4 @settitle T-gnus 6.16 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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294 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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303 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
305 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
311 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
333 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
334 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
336 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
337 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
338 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
339 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
340 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
341 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
342 License'' in the Emacs manual.
344 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
345 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
346 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
348 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
349 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
350 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
351 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
357 @title T-gnus 6.16 Manual
359 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
362 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
363 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
365 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
367 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
368 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
369 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
370 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
371 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
372 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
373 License'' in the Emacs manual.
375 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
376 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
377 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
379 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
380 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
381 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
382 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
391 @top The gnus Newsreader
395 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
396 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
397 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
400 T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
401 T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
402 or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
403 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
404 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
405 if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
407 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.16.
418 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
419 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
421 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
422 being accused of plagiarism:
424 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
425 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
426 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
427 can even read news with it!
429 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
430 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
431 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
432 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
433 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
439 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
440 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
441 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
442 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
443 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
444 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
445 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
446 * Various:: General purpose settings.
447 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
448 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
449 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
450 * Key Index:: Key Index.
452 Other related manuals
454 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
455 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
456 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
457 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
460 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
464 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
465 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
466 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
467 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
468 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
469 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
470 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
471 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
472 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
473 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
474 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
478 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
479 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
480 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
484 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
485 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
486 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
487 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
488 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
489 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
490 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
491 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
492 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
493 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
494 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
495 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
496 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
497 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
498 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
499 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
500 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
504 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
505 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
506 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
510 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
511 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
512 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
513 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
514 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
518 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
519 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
520 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
521 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
522 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
526 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
527 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
528 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
529 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
530 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
531 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
532 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
533 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
534 * Threading:: How threads are made.
535 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
536 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
537 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
538 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
539 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
540 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
541 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
542 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
543 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
544 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
545 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
546 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
547 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
548 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
549 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
550 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
551 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
552 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
553 or reselecting the current group.
554 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
555 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
556 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
557 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
559 Summary Buffer Format
561 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
562 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
563 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
564 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
568 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
569 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
571 Reply, Followup and Post
573 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
574 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
575 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
576 * Canceling and Superseding::
580 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
581 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
582 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
583 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
584 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
585 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
589 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
590 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
592 Customizing Threading
594 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
595 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
596 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
597 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
601 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
602 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
603 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
604 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
605 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
606 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
610 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
611 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
612 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
616 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
617 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
618 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
619 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
620 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
621 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
622 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
623 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
624 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
625 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
626 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
628 Alternative Approaches
630 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
631 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
633 Various Summary Stuff
635 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
636 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
637 * Summary Generation Commands::
638 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
642 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
643 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
644 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
645 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
646 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
650 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
651 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
652 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
653 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
654 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
655 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
656 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
657 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
661 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
662 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
663 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
664 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
665 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
666 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
667 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
668 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
672 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
673 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
674 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
675 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
676 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
677 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
678 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
682 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
683 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
687 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
688 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
689 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
693 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
694 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
695 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
696 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
697 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
698 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
699 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
700 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
701 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
702 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
703 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
704 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
705 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
709 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
710 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
711 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
713 Choosing a Mail Back End
715 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
716 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
717 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
718 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
719 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
720 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
721 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
726 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
727 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
728 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
729 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
730 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
731 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
735 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
736 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
737 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
738 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
739 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
740 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
744 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
745 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
746 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
747 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
748 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
752 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
756 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
757 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
758 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
762 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
763 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
767 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
768 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
769 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
770 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
771 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
772 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
773 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
774 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
775 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
776 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
777 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
778 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
779 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
783 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
784 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
785 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
789 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
790 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
791 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
795 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
796 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
797 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
798 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
799 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
800 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
801 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
802 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
803 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
804 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
805 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
806 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
807 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
808 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
809 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
810 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
811 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
815 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
816 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
817 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
818 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
822 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
823 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
824 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
828 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
829 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
830 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
831 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
832 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
833 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
834 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
835 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
836 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
837 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
838 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
839 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
840 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
841 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
842 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
843 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
844 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
845 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
846 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
850 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
851 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
852 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
853 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
854 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
855 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
856 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
857 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
861 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
862 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
863 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
864 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
865 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
869 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
870 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
871 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
872 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
873 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
874 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
876 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
878 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
880 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
881 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
883 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
885 * ifile spam filtering::
886 * spam-stat spam filtering::
888 * Extending the spam elisp package::
890 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
892 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
893 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
894 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
898 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
899 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
900 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
901 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
902 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
903 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
904 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
905 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
906 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ.
910 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
911 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
912 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
913 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
914 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
915 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
916 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
917 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
918 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
922 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
923 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
924 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
925 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
926 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
927 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
931 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
932 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
933 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
934 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
938 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
939 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
940 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
941 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
942 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
943 * Group Info:: The group info format.
944 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
945 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
946 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
950 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
951 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
952 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
953 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
954 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
955 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
959 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
960 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
964 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
965 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
971 @chapter Starting gnus
976 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
977 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
980 @findex gnus-other-frame
981 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
982 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
983 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
985 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
986 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
987 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
989 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
990 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
993 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
994 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
995 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
996 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
997 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
998 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
999 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
1000 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
1001 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
1002 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1003 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1007 @node Finding the News
1008 @section Finding the News
1009 @cindex finding news
1011 @vindex gnus-select-method
1013 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
1014 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1015 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1016 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1019 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1020 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1023 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1026 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1029 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1032 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1033 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1034 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1036 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1038 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1039 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1040 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1041 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1042 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1043 If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1044 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1046 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1047 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1048 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1049 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1051 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1052 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1053 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1054 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1055 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1056 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1057 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1058 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1059 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1062 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1064 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1065 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1066 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1067 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1068 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1069 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1071 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1073 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1074 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1075 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1076 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1077 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1078 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1081 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1082 you would typically set this variable to
1085 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1089 @node The First Time
1090 @section The First Time
1091 @cindex first time usage
1093 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1094 be subscribed by default.
1096 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1097 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1098 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1099 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1102 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1103 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1104 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1106 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1107 help you with most common problems.
1109 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1110 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1114 @node The Server is Down
1115 @section The Server is Down
1116 @cindex server errors
1118 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1119 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1120 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1122 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1123 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1124 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1125 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1126 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1127 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1128 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1130 @findex gnus-no-server
1131 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1133 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1134 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1135 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1136 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1137 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1138 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1139 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1143 @section Slave Gnusae
1146 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1147 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1148 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1149 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1151 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1152 @file{.newsrc} file.
1154 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1155 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1156 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1157 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1158 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1159 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1160 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1163 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1164 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1165 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1166 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1167 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1168 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1169 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1170 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1172 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1173 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1175 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1176 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1177 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1178 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1179 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1181 @node Fetching a Group
1182 @section Fetching a Group
1183 @cindex fetching a group
1185 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1186 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1187 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1188 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1189 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1190 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1196 @cindex subscription
1198 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1199 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1200 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1201 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1202 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1203 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1204 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1205 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1206 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1209 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1210 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1211 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1215 @node Checking New Groups
1216 @subsection Checking New Groups
1218 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1219 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1220 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1221 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1222 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1223 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1224 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1225 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1226 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1227 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1229 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1230 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1231 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1232 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1233 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1234 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1235 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1236 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1237 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1238 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1239 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1241 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1242 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1243 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1244 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1245 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1246 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1249 @node Subscription Methods
1250 @subsection Subscription Methods
1252 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1253 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1254 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1256 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1257 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1259 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1263 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1265 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1266 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1267 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1269 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1270 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1271 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1272 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1274 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1275 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1276 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1278 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1279 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1280 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1281 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1282 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1283 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1284 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1285 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1286 up. Or something like that.
1288 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1289 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1290 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1291 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1292 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1294 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1295 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1296 Kill all new groups.
1298 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1299 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1300 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1301 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1302 topic parameter that looks like
1308 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1311 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1316 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1317 A closely related variable is
1318 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1319 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1320 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1321 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1324 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1325 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1326 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1327 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1330 @node Filtering New Groups
1331 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1333 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1334 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1335 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1338 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1341 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1342 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1343 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1344 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1345 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1346 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1347 subscribing these groups.
1348 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1349 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1351 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1352 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1353 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1354 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1355 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1356 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1357 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1358 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1360 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1361 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1362 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1363 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1364 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1365 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1366 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1367 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1368 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1369 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1372 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1373 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1376 @node Changing Servers
1377 @section Changing Servers
1378 @cindex changing servers
1380 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1381 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1382 very flaky and you want to use another.
1384 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1385 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1389 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1390 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1391 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1392 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1395 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1396 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1397 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1398 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1400 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1401 @findex gnus-change-server
1402 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1403 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1404 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1405 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1406 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1408 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1409 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1410 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1411 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1412 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1414 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1415 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1416 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1417 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1418 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1419 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1421 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1422 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1423 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1424 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1426 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1427 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1428 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1429 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1430 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1431 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1432 cache for all groups).
1436 @section Startup Files
1437 @cindex startup files
1442 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1443 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1445 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1446 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1447 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1448 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1449 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1450 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1451 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1453 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1454 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1455 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1456 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1457 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1458 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1460 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1461 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1462 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1463 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1464 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1465 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1466 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1467 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1468 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1469 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1471 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1472 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1473 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1474 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1475 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1476 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1477 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1478 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1479 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1480 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1481 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1482 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1484 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1485 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1486 @vindex version-control
1487 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1488 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1489 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1490 If you want version control for this file, set
1491 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1492 @code{version-control} variable.
1494 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1495 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1496 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1497 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1498 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1499 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1500 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1501 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1502 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1503 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1506 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1507 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1509 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1510 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1513 @vindex gnus-init-file
1514 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1515 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1516 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1517 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1518 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1519 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1520 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1521 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1522 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1523 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1529 @cindex dribble file
1532 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1533 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1534 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1535 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1536 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1539 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1540 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1543 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1544 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1545 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1547 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1548 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1549 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1550 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1551 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1552 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1554 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1555 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1556 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1559 @node The Active File
1560 @section The Active File
1562 @cindex ignored groups
1564 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1565 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1566 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1568 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1569 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1570 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1571 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1572 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1573 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1574 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1577 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1578 @c if you set it to anything else.
1580 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1582 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1583 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1584 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1586 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1587 you actually subscribe to.
1589 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1590 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1591 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1592 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1594 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1595 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1596 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1597 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1598 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1599 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1601 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1602 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1603 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1606 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1607 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1608 @acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1609 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1610 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1611 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1613 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1614 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1616 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1617 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1619 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1620 secondary select methods.
1623 @node Startup Variables
1624 @section Startup Variables
1628 @item gnus-load-hook
1629 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1630 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1631 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1632 times you start gnus.
1634 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1635 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1636 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1638 @item gnus-startup-hook
1639 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1640 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1642 @item gnus-started-hook
1643 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1644 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1647 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1648 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1649 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1650 generating the group buffer.
1652 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1653 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1654 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1655 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1656 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1657 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1658 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1659 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1661 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1662 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1663 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1664 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1665 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1666 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1668 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1669 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1670 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1672 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1673 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1674 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1676 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1677 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1678 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1679 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1685 @chapter Group Buffer
1686 @cindex group buffer
1688 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1690 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1691 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1692 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1693 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1694 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1695 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1696 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1697 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1698 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1699 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1700 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1701 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1702 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1703 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1704 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1705 @c human rights at 9...
1708 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1709 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1710 long as gnus is active.
1714 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1715 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1716 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1717 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1718 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1719 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1720 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1721 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1727 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1728 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1729 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1730 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1731 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1732 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1733 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1734 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1735 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1736 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1737 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1738 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1739 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1740 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1741 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1742 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1743 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1747 @node Group Buffer Format
1748 @section Group Buffer Format
1751 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1752 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1753 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1757 @node Group Line Specification
1758 @subsection Group Line Specification
1759 @cindex group buffer format
1761 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1762 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1764 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1767 25: news.announce.newusers
1768 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1773 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1774 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1775 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1776 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1778 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1779 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1780 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1781 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1782 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1783 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1785 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1787 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1788 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1789 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1790 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1791 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1793 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1794 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1795 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1797 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1802 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1805 Whether the group is subscribed.
1808 Level of subscribedness.
1811 Number of unread articles.
1814 Number of dormant articles.
1817 Number of ticked articles.
1820 Number of read articles.
1823 Number of unseen articles.
1826 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1827 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1829 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1830 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1831 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1832 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1833 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1834 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1835 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1836 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1839 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1842 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1851 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1852 comment element in the group parameters.
1855 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1856 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1857 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1861 @samp{m} if moderated.
1864 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1870 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1876 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1880 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1883 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1884 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1885 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1886 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1887 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1890 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1892 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1896 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1899 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1903 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1904 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1905 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1906 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1907 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1908 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1913 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1914 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1915 group, or a bogus native group.
1918 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1919 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1920 @cindex group mode line
1922 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1923 The mode line can be changed by setting
1924 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1925 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1929 The native news server.
1931 The native select method.
1935 @node Group Highlighting
1936 @subsection Group Highlighting
1937 @cindex highlighting
1938 @cindex group highlighting
1940 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1941 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1942 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1943 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1944 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1946 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1950 (cond (window-system
1951 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1952 (defface my-group-face-1
1953 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1954 (defface my-group-face-2
1955 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1956 "Second group face")
1957 (defface my-group-face-3
1958 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1959 (defface my-group-face-4
1960 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1961 (defface my-group-face-5
1962 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1964 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1965 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1966 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1967 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1968 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1969 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1972 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1974 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1981 The number of unread articles in the group.
1985 Whether the group is a mail group.
1987 The level of the group.
1989 The score of the group.
1991 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1993 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1994 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1996 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1997 topic being inserted.
2000 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2001 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
2002 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2004 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2005 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2006 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2007 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2008 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2011 @node Group Maneuvering
2012 @section Group Maneuvering
2013 @cindex group movement
2015 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2016 expected, hopefully.
2022 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2023 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2024 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2030 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2031 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2032 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2036 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2037 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2041 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2042 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2047 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2048 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2052 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2053 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2054 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2057 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2063 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2064 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2065 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2070 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2071 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2072 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2076 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2077 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2078 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2081 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2082 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2083 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2084 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2088 @node Selecting a Group
2089 @section Selecting a Group
2090 @cindex group selection
2095 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2096 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2097 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2098 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2099 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2100 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2101 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2102 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2103 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2104 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2106 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2107 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2108 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2110 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2111 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2116 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2117 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2118 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2119 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2120 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2124 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2125 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2126 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2127 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2128 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2129 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2130 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2131 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2132 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2133 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2136 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2137 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2138 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2139 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2140 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2143 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2144 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2145 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2146 doing any processing of its contents
2147 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2148 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2149 manner will have no permanent effects.
2153 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2154 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2155 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2156 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2157 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2158 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2159 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2160 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2161 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2162 most recently will be fetched.
2164 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2165 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2166 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2169 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2170 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2171 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2172 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2173 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2174 Which article this is is controlled by the
2175 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2181 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2184 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2187 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2189 @item unseen-or-unread
2190 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2191 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2195 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2199 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2200 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2202 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2203 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2204 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2205 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2209 @node Subscription Commands
2210 @section Subscription Commands
2211 @cindex subscription
2219 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2220 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2221 Toggle subscription to the current group
2222 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2228 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2229 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2230 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2231 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2237 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2238 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2239 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2245 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2246 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2249 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2250 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2251 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2252 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2253 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2259 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2260 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2265 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2268 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2269 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2270 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2271 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2272 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2273 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2274 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2275 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2276 @file{.newsrc} file.
2280 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2290 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2291 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2292 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2293 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2294 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2295 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2300 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2301 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2302 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2306 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2307 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2308 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2310 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2311 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2312 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2313 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2314 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2315 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2322 @section Group Levels
2326 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2327 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2328 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2329 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2330 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2332 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2338 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2339 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2340 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2341 prompted for a level.
2344 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2345 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2346 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2347 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2348 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2349 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2350 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2351 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2352 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2353 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2354 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2355 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2356 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2357 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2358 reasons of efficiency.
2360 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2361 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2363 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2364 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2365 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2366 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2367 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2368 groups are hidden, in a way.
2370 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2371 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2372 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2373 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2374 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2375 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2377 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2378 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2379 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2380 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2381 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2382 list of killed groups.)
2384 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2385 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2386 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2388 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2389 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2390 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2391 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2392 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2393 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2394 relevant valid ranges.
2396 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2397 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2398 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2399 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2400 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2401 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2404 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2405 one with the best level.
2407 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2408 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2409 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2412 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2413 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2414 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2415 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2418 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2419 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2420 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2421 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2423 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2424 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2425 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2426 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2427 to 5. The default is 6.
2431 @section Group Score
2436 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2437 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2438 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2441 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2442 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2443 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2444 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2445 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2446 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2447 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2448 least significant part.))
2450 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2451 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2452 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2453 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2454 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2455 action after each summary exit, you can add
2456 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2457 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2458 slow things down somewhat.
2461 @node Marking Groups
2462 @section Marking Groups
2463 @cindex marking groups
2465 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2466 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2467 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2468 bidding on those groups.
2470 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2471 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2472 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2480 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2481 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2487 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2488 Remove the mark from the current group
2489 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2493 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2494 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2498 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2499 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2503 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2504 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2508 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2509 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2510 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2513 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2515 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2516 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2517 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2518 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2519 the command to be executed.
2522 @node Foreign Groups
2523 @section Foreign Groups
2524 @cindex foreign groups
2526 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2527 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2528 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2529 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2536 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2537 @cindex making groups
2538 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2539 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2540 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2544 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2545 @cindex renaming groups
2546 Rename the current group to something else
2547 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2548 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2554 @findex gnus-group-customize
2555 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2559 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2560 @cindex renaming groups
2561 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2562 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2566 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2567 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2568 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2572 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2573 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2574 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2580 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2581 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2586 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2587 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2591 @cindex (ding) archive
2592 @cindex archive group
2593 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2594 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2595 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2596 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2597 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2598 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2599 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2603 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2605 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2606 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2607 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2608 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2614 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2615 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2616 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2620 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2621 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2623 Make a group based on some file or other
2624 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2625 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2626 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2627 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2628 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2629 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2630 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2631 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2632 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2636 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2637 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2638 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2639 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2643 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2647 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2648 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2649 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2650 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2651 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2652 @xref{Web Searches}.
2654 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2655 to a particular group by using a match string like
2656 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2660 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2661 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2662 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2666 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2667 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2668 This function will delete the current group
2669 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2670 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2671 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2672 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2673 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2677 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2678 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2679 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2683 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2684 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2685 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2688 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2691 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2692 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2693 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2694 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2695 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2696 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2700 @node Group Parameters
2701 @section Group Parameters
2702 @cindex group parameters
2704 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2705 Here's an example group parameter list:
2708 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2712 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2713 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2714 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2715 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2717 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2718 is an alist of regexps and values.
2720 The following group parameters can be used:
2725 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2728 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2731 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2732 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2733 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2734 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2735 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2737 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2738 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2739 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2740 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2741 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2742 list address instead.
2744 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2748 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2751 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2754 It is totally ignored
2755 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2756 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2758 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2759 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2760 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2761 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2762 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2764 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2765 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2766 sending the message.
2768 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2769 @cindex mail list groups
2770 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2771 entering summary buffer.
2773 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2778 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2779 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2780 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2781 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2782 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2783 headers for your posts to these lists. @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing
2784 Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for a complete treatment of
2785 available MFT support.
2787 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2788 directly uses this group parameter.
2792 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2793 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2794 of whether it has any unread articles.
2796 @item broken-reply-to
2797 @cindex broken-reply-to
2798 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2799 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2800 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2801 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2802 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2803 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2807 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2808 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2812 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2813 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2814 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2819 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2820 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2821 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2822 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2823 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2824 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2825 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2827 @strong{Caveat}: It yields an error putting @code{(gcc-self . t)} in
2828 groups of an @code{nntp} server or so, because an @code{nntp} server
2829 doesn't accept articles.
2833 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2834 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2835 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2837 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2840 @cindex total-expire
2841 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2842 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2843 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2844 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2847 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2851 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2852 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2853 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2854 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2855 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2856 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2857 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2860 @cindex expiry-target
2861 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2862 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2865 @cindex score file group parameter
2866 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2867 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2868 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2871 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2872 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2873 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2874 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2877 @cindex admin-address
2878 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2879 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2880 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2881 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2885 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2886 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2890 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2893 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2894 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2897 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2901 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2903 Here are some examples:
2907 Display only unread articles.
2910 Display everything except expirable articles.
2912 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2913 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2917 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2918 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2919 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2920 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2921 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2925 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2926 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2927 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2931 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2932 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2933 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2937 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2938 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2939 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2941 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2943 @item ignored-charsets
2944 @cindex ignored-charset
2945 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2946 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2947 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2949 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2952 @cindex posting-style
2953 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2954 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2955 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2956 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2957 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2959 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2960 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2961 like this in the group parameters:
2966 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2967 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2972 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2973 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2977 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2978 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2979 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2980 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2981 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2985 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2986 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2987 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2988 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2990 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2991 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2992 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2993 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2996 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2997 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
3001 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3002 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3004 @item (agent parameters)
3005 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3006 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3007 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3008 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3009 minimize the configuration effort.
3011 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3012 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3013 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3014 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3015 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3016 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3017 @code{eval}ed there.
3019 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3020 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3021 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3022 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3023 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3024 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3025 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3026 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3029 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3032 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3033 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3034 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3037 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3040 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3041 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3042 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3043 into the group parameters for the group.
3045 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3046 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3047 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3048 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3049 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3053 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3054 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3055 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3056 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3057 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3059 @vindex gnus-parameters
3060 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3061 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3065 (setq gnus-parameters
3067 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3068 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3069 (gnus-summary-line-format
3070 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3074 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3078 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3082 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3085 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3086 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3089 @node Listing Groups
3090 @section Listing Groups
3091 @cindex group listing
3093 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3101 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3102 List all groups that have unread articles
3103 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3104 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3105 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3106 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3113 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3114 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3115 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3116 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3117 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3118 unsubscribed groups).
3122 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3123 List all unread groups on a specific level
3124 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3125 with no unread articles.
3129 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3130 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3131 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3132 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3137 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3138 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3142 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3143 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3144 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3148 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3149 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3153 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3154 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3155 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3156 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3157 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3158 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3159 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3160 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3164 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3165 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3166 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3170 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3171 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3172 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3176 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3177 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3181 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3182 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3186 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3187 List groups limited within the current selection
3188 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3192 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3193 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3197 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3198 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3202 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3203 @cindex visible group parameter
3204 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3205 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3206 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3207 get the same effect.
3209 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3210 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3211 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3212 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3213 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3216 @node Sorting Groups
3217 @section Sorting Groups
3218 @cindex sorting groups
3220 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3221 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3222 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3223 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3224 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3225 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3230 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3231 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3232 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3234 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3235 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3236 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3238 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3239 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3240 Sort by group level.
3242 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3243 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3244 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3246 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3247 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3248 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3249 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3251 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3252 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3253 Sort by number of unread articles.
3255 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3256 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3257 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3259 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3261 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3266 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3267 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3271 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3272 some sorting criteria:
3276 @kindex G S a (Group)
3277 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3278 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3279 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3282 @kindex G S u (Group)
3283 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3284 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3285 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3288 @kindex G S l (Group)
3289 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3290 Sort the group buffer by group level
3291 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3294 @kindex G S v (Group)
3295 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3296 Sort the group buffer by group score
3297 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3300 @kindex G S r (Group)
3301 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3302 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3303 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3306 @kindex G S m (Group)
3307 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3308 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3309 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3312 @kindex G S n (Group)
3313 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3314 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3315 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3319 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3320 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3322 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3323 commands will sort in reverse order.
3325 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3329 @kindex G P a (Group)
3330 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3331 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3332 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3335 @kindex G P u (Group)
3336 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3337 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3338 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3341 @kindex G P l (Group)
3342 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3343 Sort the groups by group level
3344 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3347 @kindex G P v (Group)
3348 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3349 Sort the groups by group score
3350 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3353 @kindex G P r (Group)
3354 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3355 Sort the groups by group rank
3356 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3359 @kindex G P m (Group)
3360 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3361 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3362 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3365 @kindex G P n (Group)
3366 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3367 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3368 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3371 @kindex G P s (Group)
3372 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3373 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3377 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3381 @node Group Maintenance
3382 @section Group Maintenance
3383 @cindex bogus groups
3388 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3389 Find bogus groups and delete them
3390 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3394 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3395 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3396 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3397 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3398 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3402 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3403 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3404 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3405 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3406 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3407 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3410 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3411 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3412 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3413 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3418 @node Browse Foreign Server
3419 @section Browse Foreign Server
3420 @cindex foreign servers
3421 @cindex browsing servers
3426 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3427 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3428 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3429 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3432 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3433 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3434 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3435 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3437 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3442 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3443 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3447 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3448 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3451 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3452 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3453 Enter the current group and display the first article
3454 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3457 @kindex RET (Browse)
3458 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3459 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3463 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3464 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3465 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3471 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3472 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3476 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3477 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3481 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3482 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3483 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3488 @section Exiting gnus
3489 @cindex exiting gnus
3491 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3496 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3497 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3498 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3499 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3503 @findex gnus-group-exit
3504 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3505 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3509 @findex gnus-group-quit
3510 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3511 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3514 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3515 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3516 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3517 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3518 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3519 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3525 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3526 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3527 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3533 @section Group Topics
3536 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3537 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3538 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3539 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3540 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3541 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3545 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3546 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3557 2: alt.religion.emacs
3560 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3562 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3563 13: comp.sources.unix
3566 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3568 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3569 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3570 is a toggling command.)
3572 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3573 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3574 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3575 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3578 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3579 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3580 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3583 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3587 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3588 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3589 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3590 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3591 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3595 @node Topic Commands
3596 @subsection Topic Commands
3597 @cindex topic commands
3599 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3600 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3601 definitions slightly.
3603 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3604 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3605 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3606 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3607 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3608 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3610 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3617 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3618 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3619 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3623 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3625 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3626 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3627 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3628 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3631 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3632 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3633 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3634 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3638 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3639 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3640 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3641 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3647 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3648 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3649 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3653 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3654 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3655 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3658 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3659 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3660 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3661 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3662 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3664 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3665 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3669 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3670 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3677 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3679 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3680 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3681 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3682 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3683 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3684 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3688 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3694 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3695 Move the current group to some other topic
3696 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3697 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3701 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3702 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3706 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3707 Copy the current group to some other topic
3708 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3709 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3713 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3714 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3715 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3719 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3720 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3721 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3725 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3726 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3727 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3728 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3729 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3730 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3731 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3734 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3735 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3739 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3740 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3741 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3745 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3746 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3747 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3751 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3752 Toggle hiding empty topics
3753 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3757 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3758 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3759 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3760 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3763 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3764 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3765 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3766 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3767 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3770 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3771 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3772 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3773 expiry process (if any)
3774 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3778 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3779 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3782 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3783 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3784 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3788 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3789 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3790 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3793 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3794 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3795 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3798 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3799 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3800 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3804 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3805 @cindex group parameters
3806 @cindex topic parameters
3808 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3809 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3814 @node Topic Variables
3815 @subsection Topic Variables
3816 @cindex topic variables
3818 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3819 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3821 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3822 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3823 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3836 Number of groups in the topic.
3838 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3840 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3843 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3844 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3845 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3848 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3849 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3851 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3852 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3853 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3857 @subsection Topic Sorting
3858 @cindex topic sorting
3860 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3866 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3867 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3868 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3869 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3872 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3873 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3874 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3875 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3878 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3879 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3880 Sort the current topic by group level
3881 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3884 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3885 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3886 Sort the current topic by group score
3887 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3890 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3891 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3892 Sort the current topic by group rank
3893 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3896 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3897 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3898 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3899 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3902 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3903 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3904 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3905 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3908 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3909 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3910 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3911 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3912 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3916 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3917 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3921 @node Topic Topology
3922 @subsection Topic Topology
3923 @cindex topic topology
3926 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3933 2: alt.religion.emacs
3936 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3938 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3939 13: comp.sources.unix
3943 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3944 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3945 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3950 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3951 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3955 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3956 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3957 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3958 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3959 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3960 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3962 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3963 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3964 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3967 @node Topic Parameters
3968 @subsection Topic Parameters
3969 @cindex topic parameters
3971 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3972 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3973 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3974 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3975 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3977 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3982 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3983 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3984 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3987 @item subscribe-level
3988 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3989 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3990 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3994 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3995 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3996 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3997 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4004 2: alt.religion.emacs
4008 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4010 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4011 13: comp.sources.unix
4016 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4017 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4018 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4019 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4020 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4021 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4023 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4024 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4025 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4026 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4027 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4029 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4030 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4031 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4032 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4033 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4034 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4035 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4036 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4039 @node Misc Group Stuff
4040 @section Misc Group Stuff
4043 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4044 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4045 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4046 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4047 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4054 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4055 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4056 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4060 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4061 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4062 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4063 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4064 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4065 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4066 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4070 @findex gnus-group-mail
4071 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4072 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4073 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4074 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4078 @findex gnus-group-news
4079 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4080 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4081 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4083 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4084 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4085 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4086 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4087 for this to work though.
4091 Variables for the group buffer:
4095 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4096 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4097 is called after the group buffer has been
4100 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4101 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4102 is called after the group buffer is
4103 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4106 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4107 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4108 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4109 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4111 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4112 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4113 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4114 whether they are empty or not.
4116 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4117 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4118 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4119 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4123 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4124 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4127 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4128 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4129 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4130 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4131 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4132 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4133 default is @code{nil}.
4137 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4138 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4143 @node Scanning New Messages
4144 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4145 @cindex new messages
4146 @cindex scanning new news
4152 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4153 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4154 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4155 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4156 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4157 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4162 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4163 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4164 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4165 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4166 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4167 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4168 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4170 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4171 @cindex activating groups
4173 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4174 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4179 @findex gnus-group-restart
4180 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4181 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4182 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4186 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4187 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4189 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4190 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4194 @node Group Information
4195 @subsection Group Information
4196 @cindex group information
4197 @cindex information on groups
4204 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4205 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4208 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4209 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4210 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4211 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4212 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4213 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4214 used for fetching the file.
4216 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4217 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4221 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4222 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4224 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4225 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4228 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4229 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4230 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4234 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4235 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4236 @cindex control message
4237 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4238 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4239 group if given a prefix argument.
4241 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4242 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4243 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4244 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4246 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4247 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4248 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4252 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4254 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4255 @cindex describing groups
4256 @cindex group description
4257 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4258 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4259 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4263 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4264 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4265 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4272 @findex gnus-version
4273 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4277 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4278 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4281 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4284 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4285 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4289 @node Group Timestamp
4290 @subsection Group Timestamp
4292 @cindex group timestamps
4294 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4295 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4296 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4299 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4302 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4304 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4305 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4308 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4309 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4312 This will result in lines looking like:
4315 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4316 0: custom 19961002T012713
4319 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4320 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4324 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4325 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4328 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4329 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4333 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4334 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4335 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4336 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4338 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4344 @subsection File Commands
4345 @cindex file commands
4351 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4352 @vindex gnus-init-file
4353 @cindex reading init file
4354 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4355 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4359 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4360 @cindex saving .newsrc
4361 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4362 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4363 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4366 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4367 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4368 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4373 @node Sieve Commands
4374 @subsection Sieve Commands
4375 @cindex group sieve commands
4377 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4378 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4379 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4380 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4381 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4383 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4384 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4385 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4386 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4387 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4388 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4389 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4390 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4391 regenerate the Sieve script.
4393 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4394 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4395 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4396 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4397 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4398 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4399 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4400 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4401 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4402 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4405 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4406 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4411 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4417 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4418 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4419 @cindex generating sieve script
4420 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4421 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4425 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4426 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4427 @cindex updating sieve script
4428 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4429 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4430 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4435 @node Summary Buffer
4436 @chapter Summary Buffer
4437 @cindex summary buffer
4439 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4440 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4442 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4443 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4445 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4448 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4449 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4450 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4451 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4452 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4453 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4454 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4455 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4456 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4457 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4458 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4459 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4460 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4461 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4462 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4463 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4464 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4465 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4466 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4467 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4468 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4469 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4470 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4471 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4472 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4473 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4474 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4475 or reselecting the current group.
4476 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4477 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4478 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4479 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4483 @node Summary Buffer Format
4484 @section Summary Buffer Format
4485 @cindex summary buffer format
4489 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4490 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4491 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4497 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4498 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4499 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4500 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4503 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4504 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4505 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4506 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4507 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4508 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4509 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4510 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4511 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4512 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4513 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4514 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4515 other function instead:
4518 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4519 'mail-extract-address-components)
4522 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4523 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4524 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4525 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4528 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4529 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4531 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4532 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4533 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4534 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4535 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4537 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4538 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4539 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4540 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4541 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4542 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4544 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4546 The following format specification characters and extended format
4547 specification(s) are understood:
4553 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4554 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4556 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4557 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4558 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4560 Full @code{From} header.
4562 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4564 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4567 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4568 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4569 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4570 may be more thorough.
4572 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4575 Number of lines in the article.
4577 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4578 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4580 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4581 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4583 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4585 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4586 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4599 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4600 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4601 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4602 line-drawing glyphs.
4604 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4605 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4606 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4607 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4609 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4610 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4611 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4612 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4614 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4615 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4616 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4617 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4619 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4620 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4621 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4623 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4624 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4625 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4627 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4628 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4629 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4631 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4632 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4633 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4638 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4639 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4641 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4642 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4644 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4645 for adopted articles.
4647 One space for each thread level.
4649 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4651 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4654 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4655 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4656 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4659 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4661 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4662 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4663 default level. If the difference between
4664 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4665 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4673 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4675 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4681 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4682 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4684 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4685 article has any children.
4691 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4692 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4694 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4695 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4696 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4697 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4698 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4699 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4702 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4703 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4704 There can only be one such area.
4706 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4707 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4708 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4709 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4710 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4711 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4713 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4714 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4716 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4719 @node To From Newsgroups
4720 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4724 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4725 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4726 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4727 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4728 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4732 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4733 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4734 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4738 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4739 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4742 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4743 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4746 @findex gnus-extra-header
4747 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4748 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4749 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4752 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4756 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4757 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4758 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4759 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4760 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4761 headers are used instead.
4765 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4766 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4767 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4768 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4769 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4770 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4773 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4774 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4775 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4776 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4778 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4782 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4784 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4785 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4786 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4787 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4791 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4794 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4795 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4798 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4799 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4800 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4806 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4807 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4810 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4811 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4813 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4814 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4815 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4816 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4818 Here are the elements you can play with:
4824 Unprefixed group name.
4826 Current article number.
4828 Current article score.
4832 Number of unread articles in this group.
4834 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4837 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4838 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4839 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4840 and no unselected ones.
4842 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4843 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4845 Subject of the current article.
4847 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4849 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4851 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4853 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4855 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4857 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4861 @node Summary Highlighting
4862 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4866 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4867 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4868 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4869 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4870 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4872 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4873 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4874 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4875 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4877 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4878 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4879 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4880 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4882 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4883 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4884 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4885 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4886 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4887 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4890 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4891 ((> score default) . bold))
4893 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4894 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4898 @node Summary Maneuvering
4899 @section Summary Maneuvering
4900 @cindex summary movement
4902 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4903 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4905 None of these commands select articles.
4910 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4911 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4912 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4913 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4914 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4918 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4919 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4920 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4921 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4922 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4925 @kindex G g (Summary)
4926 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4927 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4928 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4931 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4932 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4933 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4934 to the group buffer.
4936 Variables related to summary movement:
4940 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4941 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4942 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4943 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4944 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4945 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4946 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4947 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4948 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4949 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4950 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4951 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4952 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4953 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4955 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4956 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4957 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4958 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4959 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4960 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4961 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4963 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4965 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4966 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4967 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4968 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4969 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4971 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4972 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4973 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4974 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4975 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4976 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4977 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4978 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4981 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4982 the given number of lines from the top.
4987 @node Choosing Articles
4988 @section Choosing Articles
4989 @cindex selecting articles
4992 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4993 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4997 @node Choosing Commands
4998 @subsection Choosing Commands
5000 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5001 and they all select and display an article.
5003 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5004 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5008 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5009 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5010 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5011 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5013 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5014 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5015 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5020 @kindex G n (Summary)
5021 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5022 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5023 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5028 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5029 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5030 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5035 @kindex G N (Summary)
5036 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5037 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5042 @kindex G P (Summary)
5043 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5044 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5047 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5048 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5049 Go to the next article with the same subject
5050 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5053 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5054 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5055 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5056 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5060 @kindex G f (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5063 Go to the first unread article
5064 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5068 @kindex G b (Summary)
5070 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5071 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5072 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5073 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5078 @kindex G l (Summary)
5079 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5080 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5083 @kindex G o (Summary)
5084 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5086 @cindex article history
5087 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5088 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5089 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5090 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5091 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5092 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5097 @kindex G j (Summary)
5098 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5099 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5100 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5105 @node Choosing Variables
5106 @subsection Choosing Variables
5108 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5111 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5112 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5113 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5114 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5115 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5116 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5118 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5119 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5120 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5121 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5122 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5123 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5125 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5126 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5127 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5128 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5129 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5130 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5131 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5132 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5133 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5134 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5135 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5136 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5137 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5138 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5143 @node Paging the Article
5144 @section Scrolling the Article
5145 @cindex article scrolling
5150 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5152 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5153 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5154 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5156 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5157 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5158 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5159 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5160 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5161 what is considered uninteresting with
5162 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5163 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5166 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5168 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5171 @kindex RET (Summary)
5172 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5173 Scroll the current article one line forward
5174 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5177 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5178 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5179 Scroll the current article one line backward
5180 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5184 @kindex A g (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5187 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5188 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5189 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5190 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5191 the way it came from the server.
5193 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5194 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5195 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5198 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5203 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5208 @kindex A < (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5210 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5216 @kindex A > (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5218 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5222 @kindex A s (Summary)
5224 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5225 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5226 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5230 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5231 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5236 @node Reply Followup and Post
5237 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5240 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5241 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5242 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5243 * Canceling and Superseding::
5247 @node Summary Mail Commands
5248 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5250 @cindex composing mail
5252 Commands for composing a mail message:
5258 @kindex S r (Summary)
5260 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5261 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5262 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5263 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5264 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5269 @kindex S R (Summary)
5270 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5271 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5272 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5273 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5274 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5277 @kindex S w (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5279 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5280 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5281 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5282 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5283 present, that's used instead.
5286 @kindex S W (Summary)
5287 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5288 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5289 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5290 the process/prefix convention.
5293 @kindex S v (Summary)
5294 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5295 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5296 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5297 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5298 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5299 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5302 @kindex S V (Summary)
5303 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5304 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5305 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5306 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5309 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5311 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5312 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5313 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5314 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5315 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5316 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5319 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5321 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5322 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5323 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5327 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5328 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5330 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5331 Forward the current article to some other person
5332 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5333 headers of the forwarded article.
5338 @kindex S m (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5340 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5341 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5342 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5343 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5348 @kindex S i (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5350 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5351 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5352 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5354 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5355 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5356 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5357 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5358 for this to work though.
5361 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5362 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5363 @cindex bouncing mail
5364 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5365 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5366 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5367 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5368 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5369 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5370 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5371 very well fail, though.
5374 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5376 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5377 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5378 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5379 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5380 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5381 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5382 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5383 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5385 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5386 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5387 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5388 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5389 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5391 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5392 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5395 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5396 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5397 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5398 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5399 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5402 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5403 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5404 @cindex crossposting
5405 @cindex excessive crossposting
5406 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5407 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5409 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5410 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5411 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5412 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5413 command understands the process/prefix convention
5414 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5418 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5419 Manual}, for more information.
5422 @node Summary Post Commands
5423 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5425 @cindex composing news
5427 Commands for posting a news article:
5433 @kindex S p (Summary)
5434 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5435 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5436 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5437 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5438 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5443 @kindex S f (Summary)
5444 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5445 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5446 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5450 @kindex S F (Summary)
5452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5453 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5454 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5455 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5456 process/prefix convention.
5459 @kindex S n (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5461 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5462 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5465 @kindex S N (Summary)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5467 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5468 message through mail and include the original message
5469 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5470 the process/prefix convention.
5473 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5474 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5475 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5476 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5477 headers of the forwarded article.
5480 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5481 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5483 @cindex making digests
5484 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5485 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5486 process/prefix convention.
5489 @kindex S u (Summary)
5490 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5491 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5492 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5493 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5496 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5497 Manual}, for more information.
5500 @node Summary Message Commands
5501 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5505 @kindex S y (Summary)
5506 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5507 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5508 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5509 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5510 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5515 @node Canceling and Superseding
5516 @subsection Canceling Articles
5517 @cindex canceling articles
5518 @cindex superseding articles
5520 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5521 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5523 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5525 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5527 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5528 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5529 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5530 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5531 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5532 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5534 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5535 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5538 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5539 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5540 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5542 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5543 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5544 your original article.
5546 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5548 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5549 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5550 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5553 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5554 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5555 have posted almost the same article twice.
5557 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5558 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5559 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5560 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5561 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5562 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5563 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5564 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5565 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5566 canceled/superseded.
5568 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5570 @node Delayed Articles
5571 @section Delayed Articles
5572 @cindex delayed sending
5573 @cindex send delayed
5575 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5576 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5577 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5578 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5581 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5584 @findex gnus-delay-article
5585 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5586 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5587 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5588 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5592 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5593 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5594 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5595 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5598 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5599 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5600 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5603 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5604 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5605 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5606 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5607 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5608 that means a time tomorrow.
5611 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5612 couple of variables:
5615 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5616 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5617 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5618 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5620 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5621 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5622 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5623 formats described above.
5625 @item gnus-delay-group
5626 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5627 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5628 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5629 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5631 @item gnus-delay-header
5632 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5633 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5634 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5635 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5638 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5639 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5640 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5641 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5642 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5644 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5645 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5646 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5647 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5648 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5649 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5650 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5653 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5654 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5656 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5657 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5658 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5659 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5660 argument is ignored.
5662 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5663 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5664 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5668 @node Marking Articles
5669 @section Marking Articles
5670 @cindex article marking
5671 @cindex article ticking
5674 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5676 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5677 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5678 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5680 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5683 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5684 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5685 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5689 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5693 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5694 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5695 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5699 @node Unread Articles
5700 @subsection Unread Articles
5702 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5707 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5708 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5710 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5711 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5712 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5713 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5714 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5715 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5716 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5719 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5720 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5722 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5723 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5724 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5725 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5729 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5730 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5732 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5737 @subsection Read Articles
5738 @cindex expirable mark
5740 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5745 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5746 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5747 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5750 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5751 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5754 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5755 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5756 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5759 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5760 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5763 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5764 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5767 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5768 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5771 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5772 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5775 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5776 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5779 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5780 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5783 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5784 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5788 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5789 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5790 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5794 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5795 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5797 One more special mark, though:
5801 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5802 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5804 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5805 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5806 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5807 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5813 @subsection Other Marks
5814 @cindex process mark
5817 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5823 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5824 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5825 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5826 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5827 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5830 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5831 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5832 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5833 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5836 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5837 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5838 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5841 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5842 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5843 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5846 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5847 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5848 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5849 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5852 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5853 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5854 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5855 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5856 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5857 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5860 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5861 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5862 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5863 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5866 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5867 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5868 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5869 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5870 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5874 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5875 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5876 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5877 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5878 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5879 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5882 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5883 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5884 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5885 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5886 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5887 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5891 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5892 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5893 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5894 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5895 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5898 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5899 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5900 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5901 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5902 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5903 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5907 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5908 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5909 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5911 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5912 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5913 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5917 @subsection Setting Marks
5918 @cindex setting marks
5920 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5925 @kindex M c (Summary)
5926 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5928 @cindex mark as unread
5929 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5930 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5936 @kindex M t (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5938 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5939 @xref{Article Caching}.
5944 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5945 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5946 Mark the current article as dormant
5947 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5951 @kindex M d (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5954 Mark the current article as read
5955 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5959 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5960 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5961 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5966 @kindex M k (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5968 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5969 and then select the next unread article
5970 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5974 @kindex M K (Summary)
5975 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5977 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5978 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5981 @kindex M C (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5983 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5984 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5987 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5988 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5989 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5990 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5993 @kindex M H (Summary)
5994 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5995 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5996 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5999 @kindex M h (Summary)
6000 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6001 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6002 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6005 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6007 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6008 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6011 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6012 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6013 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6014 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6018 @kindex M e (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6021 Mark the current article as expirable
6022 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6025 @kindex M b (Summary)
6026 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6027 Set a bookmark in the current article
6028 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6031 @kindex M B (Summary)
6032 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6033 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6034 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6037 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6038 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6039 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6040 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6043 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6044 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6045 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6046 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6049 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6050 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6051 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6052 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6053 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6056 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6057 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6058 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6059 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6060 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6061 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6062 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6063 The default is @code{t}.
6066 @node Generic Marking Commands
6067 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6069 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6070 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6071 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6072 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6073 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6076 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6077 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6080 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6081 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6082 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6083 to list in this manual.
6085 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6086 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6087 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6088 article, you could say something like:
6092 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6093 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6094 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6102 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6103 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6107 @node Setting Process Marks
6108 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6109 @cindex setting process marks
6111 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6112 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6113 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6114 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6115 commands into the cache. For more information,
6116 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6123 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6124 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6125 Mark the current article with the process mark
6126 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6127 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6131 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6132 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6133 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6134 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6137 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6138 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6139 Remove the process mark from all articles
6140 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6143 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6145 Invert the list of process marked articles
6146 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6149 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6150 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6151 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6152 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6155 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6156 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6157 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6158 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6161 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6162 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6163 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6166 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6168 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6171 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6172 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6173 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6174 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6177 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6178 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6179 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6180 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6183 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6185 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6186 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6189 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6190 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6191 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6194 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6196 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6197 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6200 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6202 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6205 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6207 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6208 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6211 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6212 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6213 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6214 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6217 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6218 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6219 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6220 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6223 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6225 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6226 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6230 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6231 set process marks based on article body contents.
6238 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6239 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6240 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6243 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6244 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6245 additional articles.
6251 @kindex / / (Summary)
6252 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6253 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6254 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6258 @kindex / a (Summary)
6259 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6260 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6261 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6265 @kindex / x (Summary)
6266 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6267 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6268 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6269 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6274 @kindex / u (Summary)
6276 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6277 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6278 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6279 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6280 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6283 @kindex / m (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6285 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6286 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6289 @kindex / t (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6291 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6292 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6293 articles younger than that number of days.
6296 @kindex / n (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6298 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6299 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6300 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6303 @kindex / w (Summary)
6304 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6305 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6306 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6310 @kindex / . (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6312 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6313 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6316 @kindex / v (Summary)
6317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6318 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6319 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6322 @kindex / p (Summary)
6323 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6324 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6325 group parameter predicate
6326 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6327 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6331 @kindex M S (Summary)
6332 @kindex / E (Summary)
6333 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6334 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6335 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6338 @kindex / D (Summary)
6339 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6340 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6341 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6344 @kindex / * (Summary)
6345 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6346 Include all cached articles in the limit
6347 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6350 @kindex / d (Summary)
6351 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6352 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6353 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6356 @kindex / M (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6358 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6361 @kindex / T (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6363 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6366 @kindex / c (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6368 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6369 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6372 @kindex / C (Summary)
6373 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6374 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6375 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6376 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6379 @kindex / N (Summary)
6380 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6381 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6382 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6385 @kindex / o (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6387 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6388 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6396 @cindex article threading
6398 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6399 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6400 hierarchical fashion.
6402 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6403 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6404 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6405 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6406 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6407 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6408 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6410 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6414 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6417 A tree-like article structure.
6420 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6423 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6424 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6425 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6426 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6427 called loose threads.
6429 @item thread gathering
6430 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6432 @item sparse threads
6433 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6434 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6440 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6441 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6445 @node Customizing Threading
6446 @subsection Customizing Threading
6447 @cindex customizing threading
6450 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6451 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6452 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6453 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6458 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6461 @cindex loose threads
6464 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6465 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6466 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6467 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6468 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6469 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6471 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6472 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6473 There are four possible values:
6477 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6478 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6479 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6480 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6481 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6486 @cindex adopting articles
6491 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6492 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6493 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6494 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6497 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6498 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6499 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6500 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6501 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6502 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6503 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6504 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6505 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6506 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6509 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6510 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6511 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6515 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6516 display them after one another.
6519 Don't gather loose threads.
6522 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6523 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6524 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6525 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6526 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6527 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6528 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6529 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6530 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6531 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6532 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6534 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6535 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6536 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6539 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6540 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6541 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6542 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6543 simplification is used.
6545 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6546 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6547 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6548 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6550 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6552 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6558 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6559 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6560 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6561 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6566 (mapconcat 'identity
6567 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6569 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6572 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6575 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6576 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6577 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6578 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6579 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6580 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6582 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6585 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6586 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6587 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6589 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6590 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6593 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6594 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6595 Remove excessive whitespace.
6597 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6598 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6599 Remove all whitespace.
6602 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6605 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6606 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6607 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6608 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6609 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6610 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6611 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6612 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6614 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6615 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6616 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6617 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6618 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6619 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6620 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6621 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6622 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6626 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6627 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6628 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6629 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6631 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6632 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6633 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6636 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6640 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6641 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6647 @node Filling In Threads
6648 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6651 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6652 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6653 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6654 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6655 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6656 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6657 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6658 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6659 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6660 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6661 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6662 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6665 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6666 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6667 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6669 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6670 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6671 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6674 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6675 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6676 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6677 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6678 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6679 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6680 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6681 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6682 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6683 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6684 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6685 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6686 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6687 @code{nil} by default.
6689 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6690 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6691 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6692 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6693 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6694 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6695 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6697 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6698 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6699 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6704 @node More Threading
6705 @subsubsection More Threading
6708 @item gnus-show-threads
6709 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6710 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6711 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6712 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6713 slower and more awkward.
6715 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6716 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6717 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6720 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6721 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6722 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6727 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6728 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6729 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6732 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6733 unread, but you get my drift.)
6736 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6737 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6738 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6739 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6740 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6741 threads are expunged.
6743 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6744 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6745 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6748 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6749 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6750 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6751 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6752 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6753 result in a new thread.
6755 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6756 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6757 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6760 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6761 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6762 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6763 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6764 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6765 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6766 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6767 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6768 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6769 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6770 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6775 @node Low-Level Threading
6776 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6780 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6781 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6782 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6783 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6784 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6785 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6787 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6788 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6789 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6790 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6791 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6792 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6793 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6794 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6795 meaningful. Here's one example:
6798 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6800 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6801 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6803 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6805 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6812 @node Thread Commands
6813 @subsection Thread Commands
6814 @cindex thread commands
6820 @kindex T k (Summary)
6821 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6822 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6823 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6824 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6825 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6830 @kindex T l (Summary)
6831 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6832 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6833 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6834 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6837 @kindex T i (Summary)
6838 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6839 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6840 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6843 @kindex T # (Summary)
6844 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6845 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6846 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6849 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6850 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6851 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6852 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6855 @kindex T T (Summary)
6856 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6857 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6860 @kindex T s (Summary)
6861 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6862 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6863 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6866 @kindex T h (Summary)
6867 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6868 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6871 @kindex T S (Summary)
6872 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6873 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6876 @kindex T H (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6878 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6881 @kindex T t (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6883 Re-thread the current article's thread
6884 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6885 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6888 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6889 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6890 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6891 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6895 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6896 understand the numeric prefix.
6901 @kindex T n (Summary)
6903 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6905 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6906 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6907 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6910 @kindex T p (Summary)
6912 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6914 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6915 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6916 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6919 @kindex T d (Summary)
6920 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6921 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6924 @kindex T u (Summary)
6925 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6926 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6929 @kindex T o (Summary)
6930 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6931 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6934 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6935 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6936 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6937 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6938 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6939 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6940 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6941 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6942 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6943 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6944 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6945 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6949 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6950 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6952 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6953 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6954 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6955 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6956 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6957 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6958 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6959 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6960 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6961 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6962 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6963 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6964 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6965 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6967 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6968 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6969 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6970 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6971 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6972 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6973 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6974 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6976 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6977 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6978 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6980 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6981 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6982 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6983 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6984 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6985 ascending article order.
6987 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6988 by number, you could do something like:
6991 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6992 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6993 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6994 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6997 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6998 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6999 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7000 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7001 which the articles arrived.
7003 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7007 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7009 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7010 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7013 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7014 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7015 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7016 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7019 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7020 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7021 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7022 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7023 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7024 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7025 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7026 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7027 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7028 variable. It is very similar to the
7029 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7030 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7031 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7032 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7033 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7034 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7035 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7037 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7041 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7042 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7043 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7048 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7049 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7050 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7051 @cindex article pre-fetch
7054 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7055 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7056 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7057 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7058 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7060 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7061 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
7063 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7064 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7065 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7066 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7067 connection is blocked.
7069 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7070 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7071 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7072 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
7074 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7075 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7076 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7077 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7080 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7083 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7084 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7085 happen automatically.
7087 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7088 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7089 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7090 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7091 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7092 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7093 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7095 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7096 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7097 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7098 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7099 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7100 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7101 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7102 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7103 article data structure as the only parameter.
7105 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7106 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7109 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7110 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7111 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7112 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7115 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7118 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7119 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7120 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7122 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7123 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7124 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7125 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7129 Remove articles when they are read.
7132 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7135 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7137 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7138 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7139 @c from the next group.
7142 @node Article Caching
7143 @section Article Caching
7144 @cindex article caching
7147 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7148 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7149 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7150 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7151 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7153 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7155 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7156 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7157 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7158 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7159 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7160 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7161 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7162 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7164 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7165 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7166 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7167 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7168 as dormant, and don't worry.
7170 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7172 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7173 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7174 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7175 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7176 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7177 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7178 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7179 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7180 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7181 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7183 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7184 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7185 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7186 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7187 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7188 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7189 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7190 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7191 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7192 not then be downloaded by this command.
7194 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7195 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7196 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7197 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7198 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7199 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7201 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7202 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7203 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7204 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7205 variables, the group is not cached.
7207 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7208 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7209 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7210 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7211 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7212 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7213 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7214 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7215 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7218 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7219 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7220 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7221 where, isn't that cool?
7223 @node Persistent Articles
7224 @section Persistent Articles
7225 @cindex persistent articles
7227 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7228 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7229 useful in my opinion.
7231 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7232 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7233 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7234 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7235 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7236 the expiry going on at the news server.
7238 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7239 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7240 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7246 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7247 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7250 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7251 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7252 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7253 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7257 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7259 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7260 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7261 interested in persistent articles:
7264 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7268 @node Article Backlog
7269 @section Article Backlog
7271 @cindex article backlog
7273 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7274 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7275 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7276 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7277 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7278 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7279 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7280 increase memory usage some.
7282 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7283 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7284 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7285 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7286 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7287 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7288 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7290 The default value is 20.
7293 @node Saving Articles
7294 @section Saving Articles
7295 @cindex saving articles
7297 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7298 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7299 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7300 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7301 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7303 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7304 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7305 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7307 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7308 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7309 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7311 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7312 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7313 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7314 deleted before saving.
7320 @kindex O o (Summary)
7322 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7323 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7324 Save the current article using the default article saver
7325 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7328 @kindex O m (Summary)
7329 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7330 Save the current article in mail format
7331 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7334 @kindex O r (Summary)
7335 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7336 Save the current article in Rmail format
7337 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7340 @kindex O f (Summary)
7341 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7342 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7343 Save the current article in plain file format
7344 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7347 @kindex O F (Summary)
7348 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7349 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7350 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7353 @kindex O b (Summary)
7354 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7355 Save the current article body in plain file format
7356 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7359 @kindex O h (Summary)
7360 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7361 Save the current article in mh folder format
7362 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7365 @kindex O v (Summary)
7366 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7367 Save the current article in a VM folder
7368 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7372 @kindex O p (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7375 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7376 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7377 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7378 complete headers in the piped output.
7381 @kindex O P (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7383 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7384 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7385 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7386 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7387 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7388 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7392 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7393 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7394 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7395 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7396 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7397 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7398 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7399 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7400 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7401 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7402 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7403 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7407 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7408 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7409 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7410 functions below, or you can create your own.
7414 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7415 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7416 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7417 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7418 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7419 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7420 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7422 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7423 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7424 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7425 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7426 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7427 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7429 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7430 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7431 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7432 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7433 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7434 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7435 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7437 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7438 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7439 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7440 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7441 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7442 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7444 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7445 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7446 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7447 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7448 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7450 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7451 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7452 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7453 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7454 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7457 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7458 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7459 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7460 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7461 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7463 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7464 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7465 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7466 reader to use this setting.
7469 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7470 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7471 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7472 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7475 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7476 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7477 available functions that generate names:
7481 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7482 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7483 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7485 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7486 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7487 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7489 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7490 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7491 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7493 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7494 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7495 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7497 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7498 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7499 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7502 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7503 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7504 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7505 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7506 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7510 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7511 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7512 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7513 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7516 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7517 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7518 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7519 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7520 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7521 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7522 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7523 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7524 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7526 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7527 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7528 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7529 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7531 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7532 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7533 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7536 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7537 lots of mail groups called things like
7538 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7539 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7540 following will do just that:
7543 (defun my-save-name (group)
7544 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7545 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7547 (setq gnus-split-methods
7548 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7553 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7554 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7555 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7556 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7557 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7558 all the files in the top level directory
7559 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7560 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7561 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7562 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7564 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7565 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7566 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7567 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7568 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7571 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7575 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7576 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7577 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7580 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7581 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7582 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7583 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7586 @node Decoding Articles
7587 @section Decoding Articles
7588 @cindex decoding articles
7590 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7591 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7594 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7595 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7596 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7597 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7598 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7599 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7603 @cindex article series
7604 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7605 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7606 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7607 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7608 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7610 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7611 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7612 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7614 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7615 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7616 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7618 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7619 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7620 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7623 @node Uuencoded Articles
7624 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7626 @cindex uuencoded articles
7631 @kindex X u (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7633 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7634 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7637 @kindex X U (Summary)
7638 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7639 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7640 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7643 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7644 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7645 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7648 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7649 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7650 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7651 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7655 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7656 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7657 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7658 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7659 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7661 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7662 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7663 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7664 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7667 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7668 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7669 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7670 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7671 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7672 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7676 @node Shell Archives
7677 @subsection Shell Archives
7679 @cindex shell archives
7680 @cindex shared articles
7682 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7683 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7684 some commands to deal with these:
7689 @kindex X s (Summary)
7690 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7691 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7694 @kindex X S (Summary)
7695 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7696 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7699 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7700 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7701 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7704 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7705 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7706 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7707 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7711 @node PostScript Files
7712 @subsection PostScript Files
7718 @kindex X p (Summary)
7719 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7720 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7723 @kindex X P (Summary)
7724 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7725 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7726 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7729 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7730 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7731 View the current PostScript series
7732 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7735 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7736 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7737 View and save the current PostScript series
7738 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7743 @subsection Other Files
7747 @kindex X o (Summary)
7748 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7749 Save the current series
7750 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7753 @kindex X b (Summary)
7754 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7755 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7756 doesn't really work yet.
7760 @node Decoding Variables
7761 @subsection Decoding Variables
7763 Adjective, not verb.
7766 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7767 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7768 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7772 @node Rule Variables
7773 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7774 @cindex rule variables
7776 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7777 variables are of the form
7780 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7787 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7788 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7790 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7791 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7794 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7795 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7798 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7799 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7800 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7801 user and default view rules.
7803 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7804 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7805 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7810 @node Other Decode Variables
7811 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7814 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7816 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7817 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7818 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7819 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7820 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7824 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7825 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7828 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7829 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7830 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7833 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7834 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7835 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7836 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7837 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7840 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7841 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7842 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7844 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7845 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7846 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7847 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7848 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7851 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7852 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7853 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7855 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7856 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7857 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7858 looking for files to display.
7860 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7861 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7862 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7865 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7866 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7867 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7870 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7871 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7872 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7875 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7876 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7877 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7880 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7881 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7882 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7883 decoded articles as unread.
7885 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7886 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7887 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7888 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7890 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7891 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7892 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7894 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7895 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7897 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7898 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7899 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7900 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7902 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7903 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7904 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7905 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7906 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7907 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7908 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7909 simply dropped them.
7914 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7915 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7919 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7920 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7921 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7922 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7923 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7924 for you when you post the article.
7926 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7927 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7928 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7929 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7931 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7932 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7933 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7934 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7935 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7936 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7937 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7939 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7940 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7941 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7942 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7943 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7944 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7945 Default is @code{t}.
7951 @subsection Viewing Files
7952 @cindex viewing files
7953 @cindex pseudo-articles
7955 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7956 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7957 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7958 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7959 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7960 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7961 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7963 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7964 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7965 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7966 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7968 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7969 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7970 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7972 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7973 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7974 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7975 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7976 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7978 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7979 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7980 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7981 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7982 a list of parameters to that command.
7984 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7985 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7986 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7988 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7989 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7990 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7993 @node Article Treatment
7994 @section Article Treatment
7996 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7997 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7998 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7999 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8000 these articles easier.
8003 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8004 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8005 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8006 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8007 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8008 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8009 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8010 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8011 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8012 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8013 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8017 @node Article Highlighting
8018 @subsection Article Highlighting
8019 @cindex highlighting
8021 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8022 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8027 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8029 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8030 Do much highlighting of the current article
8031 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8032 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8035 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8036 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8037 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8038 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8039 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8040 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8041 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8042 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8043 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8044 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8045 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8046 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8049 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8050 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8051 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8053 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8056 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8058 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8059 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8060 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8062 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8063 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8064 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8066 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8067 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8068 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8069 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8070 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8071 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8073 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8074 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8075 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8077 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8078 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8079 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8081 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8082 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8083 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8084 that it's a citation.
8086 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8087 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8088 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8090 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8091 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8092 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8094 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8095 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8096 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8097 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8103 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8104 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8105 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8106 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8107 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8108 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8109 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8110 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8115 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8118 @node Article Fontisizing
8119 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8121 @cindex article emphasis
8123 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8124 @kindex W e (Summary)
8125 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8126 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8127 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8128 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8130 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8131 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8132 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8133 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8134 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8135 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8136 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8137 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8141 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8142 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8143 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8152 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8153 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8154 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8155 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8156 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8157 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8158 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8159 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8160 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8161 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8162 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8163 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8164 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8166 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8167 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8168 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8172 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8175 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8177 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8178 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8179 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8180 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8182 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8185 @node Article Hiding
8186 @subsection Article Hiding
8187 @cindex article hiding
8189 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8190 too much cruft in most articles.
8195 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-article-hide
8197 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8198 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8199 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8202 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8203 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8204 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8208 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8209 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8210 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8211 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8214 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8215 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8216 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8220 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8221 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8222 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8223 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8224 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8225 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8226 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8227 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8231 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8232 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8233 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8234 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8239 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8240 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8241 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8242 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8245 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8246 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8247 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8248 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8251 @cindex stripping advertisements
8252 @cindex advertisements
8253 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8254 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8255 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8256 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8257 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8258 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8259 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8260 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8261 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8262 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8265 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8266 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8267 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8271 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8272 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8273 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8274 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8275 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8276 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8277 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8278 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8279 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8280 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8281 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8284 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8285 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8291 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8292 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8293 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8294 customizing the hiding:
8298 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8299 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8300 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8301 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8302 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8303 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8304 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8309 Starting point of the hidden text.
8311 Ending point of the hidden text.
8313 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8315 Number of lines of hidden text.
8318 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8319 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8320 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8321 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8322 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8327 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8328 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8330 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8331 following two variables:
8334 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8335 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8336 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8337 50), hide the cited text.
8339 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8340 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8341 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8346 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8348 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8349 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8350 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8351 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8355 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8356 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8357 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8359 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8360 citation customization.
8362 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8366 @node Article Washing
8367 @subsection Article Washing
8369 @cindex article washing
8371 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8372 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8374 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8375 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8378 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8379 articles by default.
8384 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8385 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8389 Force redisplaying of the current article
8390 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8391 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8392 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8393 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8396 @kindex W l (Summary)
8397 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8398 Remove page breaks from the current article
8399 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8403 @kindex W r (Summary)
8404 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8405 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8406 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8407 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8408 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8409 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8411 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8412 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8413 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8414 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8417 @kindex W m (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8419 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8423 @kindex W t (Summary)
8425 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8426 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8427 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8430 @kindex W v (Summary)
8431 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8432 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8433 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8436 @kindex W m (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8438 Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
8439 displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8442 @kindex W o (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8444 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8447 @kindex W d (Summary)
8448 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8449 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8451 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8453 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8454 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8455 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8456 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8459 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8460 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8461 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8462 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8465 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8466 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8467 @cindex Outlook Express
8468 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8469 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8470 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8473 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8474 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8475 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8476 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8477 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8478 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8479 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8480 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8481 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8482 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8485 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8486 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8487 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8488 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8491 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8492 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8493 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8494 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8497 @kindex W w (Summary)
8498 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8499 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8501 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8505 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8507 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8510 @kindex W C (Summary)
8511 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8512 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8513 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8516 @kindex W c (Summary)
8517 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8518 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8519 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8520 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8521 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8523 @kindex W q (Summary)
8524 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8525 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8526 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8527 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8528 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8529 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8530 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8531 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8532 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8535 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8536 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8537 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8538 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8539 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8540 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8541 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8542 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8545 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8547 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8548 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8549 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8552 @kindex W u (Summary)
8553 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8554 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8555 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8556 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8557 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8560 @kindex W h (Summary)
8561 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8562 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8563 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8564 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8566 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8568 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8569 The default is to use the function specified by
8570 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8571 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8572 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8573 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8581 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8584 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8587 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8590 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8595 @kindex W b (Summary)
8596 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8597 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8598 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8601 @kindex W B (Summary)
8602 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8603 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8604 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8607 @kindex W p (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8609 Verify a signed control message
8610 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8611 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8612 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8613 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8614 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8615 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8618 @kindex W s (Summary)
8619 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8620 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8621 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8622 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8625 @kindex W a (Summary)
8626 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8627 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8628 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8631 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8632 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8633 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8634 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8637 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8638 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8639 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8640 lines with a single empty line.
8641 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8644 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8645 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8646 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8647 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8650 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8652 Do all the three commands above
8653 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8656 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8657 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8658 Remove all blank lines
8659 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8662 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8663 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8664 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8665 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8668 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8669 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8670 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8671 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8675 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8678 @node Article Header
8679 @subsection Article Header
8681 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8686 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8687 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8688 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8691 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8692 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8693 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8694 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8697 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8698 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8699 Fold all the message headers
8700 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8703 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8704 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8705 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8706 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8711 @node Article Buttons
8712 @subsection Article Buttons
8715 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8716 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8717 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8718 button on these references.
8720 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8721 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8722 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8723 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8724 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8728 @item gnus-button-alist
8729 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8730 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8733 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8739 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8740 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8741 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8742 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8743 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8746 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8747 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8748 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8751 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8752 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8753 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8754 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8755 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8757 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8760 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8763 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8764 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8768 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8771 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8774 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8775 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8776 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8777 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8778 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8781 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8784 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8787 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8790 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8791 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8793 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8795 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8796 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8797 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8798 default values of the variables above.
8800 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8802 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8803 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8804 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8805 argument with a string naming the man page.
8807 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8809 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8810 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8811 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8813 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8814 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8815 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8816 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8817 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8818 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8819 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8820 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8821 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8822 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8823 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8824 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8826 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8827 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8828 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8829 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8830 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8833 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8834 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8835 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8836 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8838 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8840 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8841 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8842 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8843 argument, the string naming the URL.
8846 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8847 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8848 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8852 @item gnus-article-button-face
8853 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8854 Face used on buttons.
8856 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8857 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8858 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8862 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8865 @node Article Button Levels
8866 @subsection Article button levels
8867 @cindex button levels
8868 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8869 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8870 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8871 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8872 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8873 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8874 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8875 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8878 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8879 (setq gnus-parameters
8880 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8881 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8882 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8887 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8888 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8889 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8890 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8891 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8892 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8894 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8895 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8896 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8897 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8898 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8899 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8900 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8901 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8902 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8903 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8904 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8905 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8906 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8908 @item gnus-button-man-level
8909 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8910 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8911 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8913 @item gnus-button-message-level
8914 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8915 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8916 Related variables and functions include
8917 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8918 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8919 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8920 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8922 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8923 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8924 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8925 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8926 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8927 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8928 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8934 @subsection Article Date
8936 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8937 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8938 when the article was sent.
8943 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8944 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8945 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8946 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8949 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8950 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8952 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8953 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8956 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8957 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8958 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8961 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8962 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8963 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8964 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8967 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8968 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8969 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8970 @findex format-time-string
8971 Display the date using a user-defined format
8972 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8973 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8974 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8975 for a list of possible format specs.
8978 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8979 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8980 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8981 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8982 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8983 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8986 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8989 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8990 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8991 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8994 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8995 into wonderful absurdities.
8997 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9000 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9003 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9004 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9008 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9009 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9010 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9011 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9012 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9013 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9014 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9018 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9019 preferred format automatically.
9022 @node Article Display
9023 @subsection Article Display
9028 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9029 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9031 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9032 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9034 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9035 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9037 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9038 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9040 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9041 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9043 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9048 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9049 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9050 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9051 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9054 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9055 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9056 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9057 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9060 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9061 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9062 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9065 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9066 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9067 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9070 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9071 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9072 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9073 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9076 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9077 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9078 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9079 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9082 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9083 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9084 Remove all images from the article buffer
9085 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9091 @node Article Signature
9092 @subsection Article Signature
9094 @cindex article signature
9096 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9097 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9098 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9099 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9100 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9101 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9102 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9103 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9104 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9107 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9108 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9109 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9110 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9111 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9112 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9113 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9114 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9117 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9120 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9121 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9122 signature when displaying articles.
9126 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9129 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9132 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9133 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9135 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9136 in question is not a signature.
9139 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9140 listed above. Here's an example:
9143 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9144 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9147 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9148 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9149 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9150 signature after all.
9153 @node Article Miscellanea
9154 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9158 @kindex A t (Summary)
9159 @findex gnus-article-babel
9160 Translate the article from one language to another
9161 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9167 @section MIME Commands
9168 @cindex MIME decoding
9170 @cindex viewing attachments
9172 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9173 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9179 @kindex K v (Summary)
9180 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9183 @kindex K o (Summary)
9184 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9187 @kindex K c (Summary)
9188 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9191 @kindex K e (Summary)
9192 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9195 @kindex K i (Summary)
9196 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9199 @kindex K | (Summary)
9200 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9203 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9208 @kindex K b (Summary)
9209 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9210 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9214 @kindex K m (Summary)
9215 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9216 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9217 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9218 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9219 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9222 @kindex X m (Summary)
9223 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9224 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9225 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9226 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9229 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9230 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9231 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9232 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9235 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9236 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9237 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9238 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9241 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9242 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9243 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9244 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9246 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9247 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9248 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9249 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9250 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9251 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9254 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9255 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9256 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9257 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9264 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9265 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9266 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9267 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9270 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9273 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9277 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9278 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9279 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9280 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9281 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9282 default is @code{nil}.
9284 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9285 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9286 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9287 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9288 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9289 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9290 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9292 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9293 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9294 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9295 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9296 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9297 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9298 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9299 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9301 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9302 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9303 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9304 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9305 displayed. This variable overrides
9306 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9307 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9310 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9311 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9312 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9314 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9315 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9316 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9317 default value is @code{nil}.
9319 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9320 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9321 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9322 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9323 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9324 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9325 save all jpegs into some directory).
9327 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9330 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9331 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9333 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9334 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9335 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9336 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9337 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9340 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9341 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9342 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9344 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9345 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9346 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9347 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9349 Ready-made functions include@*
9350 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9351 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9352 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9353 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9354 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9355 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9356 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9357 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9358 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9359 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9360 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9361 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9363 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9364 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9366 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9367 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9368 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9371 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9372 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9373 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9374 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9378 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9387 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9388 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9389 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9390 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9391 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9392 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9393 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9395 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9396 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9397 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9398 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9400 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9401 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9402 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9403 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9404 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9405 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9406 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9407 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9408 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9410 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9411 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9412 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9413 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9414 quoted-printable header encoding.
9416 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9417 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9418 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9422 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9425 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9426 means encode all charsets),
9428 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9429 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9430 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9437 @cindex coding system aliases
9438 @cindex preferred charset
9440 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9442 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9443 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9446 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9447 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9450 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9451 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9453 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9456 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9459 This will almost do the right thing.
9461 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9465 (codepage-setup 1251)
9466 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9470 @node Article Commands
9471 @section Article Commands
9478 @kindex A P (Summary)
9479 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9480 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9481 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9482 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9483 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9484 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9489 @node Summary Sorting
9490 @section Summary Sorting
9491 @cindex summary sorting
9493 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9494 can't really see why you'd want that.
9499 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9500 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9501 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9504 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9505 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9506 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9509 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9510 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9511 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9514 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9515 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9516 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9519 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9520 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9521 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9524 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9525 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9526 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9529 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9530 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9531 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9534 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9535 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9536 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9539 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9540 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9541 Sort using the default sorting method
9542 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9545 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9546 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9547 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9548 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9549 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9553 @node Finding the Parent
9554 @section Finding the Parent
9555 @cindex parent articles
9556 @cindex referring articles
9561 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9562 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9563 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9564 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9565 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9566 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9567 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9568 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9569 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9571 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9572 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9573 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9574 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9575 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9579 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9580 @kindex A R (Summary)
9581 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9582 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9585 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9586 @kindex A T (Summary)
9587 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9588 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9589 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9590 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9591 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9592 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9593 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9595 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9596 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9597 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9598 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9599 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9600 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9603 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9604 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9606 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9607 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9608 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9609 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9610 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9611 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9612 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9615 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9616 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9617 by giving this command a prefix.
9619 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9620 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9621 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9622 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9623 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9624 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9627 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9628 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9629 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9632 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9633 then ask Google if that fails:
9636 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9638 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9641 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
9642 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9643 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9644 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9645 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9646 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9647 support this at all.
9650 @node Alternative Approaches
9651 @section Alternative Approaches
9653 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9654 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9657 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9658 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9663 @subsection Pick and Read
9664 @cindex pick and read
9666 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9667 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9668 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9669 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9671 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9672 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9673 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9674 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9675 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9676 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9678 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9683 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9684 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9685 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9686 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9687 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9688 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9689 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9690 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9693 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9694 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9695 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9696 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9700 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9701 Unpick the thread or article
9702 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9703 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9704 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9705 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9706 the thread or article at that line.
9710 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9711 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9712 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9713 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9714 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9715 will still be visible when you are reading.
9719 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9720 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9721 which is mapped to the same function
9722 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9724 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9727 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9730 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9731 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9733 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9734 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9735 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9737 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9738 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9739 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9740 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9741 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9742 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9743 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9747 @subsection Binary Groups
9748 @cindex binary groups
9750 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9751 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9752 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9753 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9754 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9755 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9756 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9759 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9760 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9761 command, when you have turned on this mode
9762 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9764 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9765 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9769 @section Tree Display
9772 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9773 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9774 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9775 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9778 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9781 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9782 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9783 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9785 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9786 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9787 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9788 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9789 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9791 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9792 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9793 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9794 default is @code{modeline}.
9796 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9797 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9798 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9799 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9800 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9801 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9802 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9808 The name of the poster.
9810 The @code{From} header.
9812 The number of the article.
9814 The opening bracket.
9816 The closing bracket.
9821 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9823 Variables related to the display are:
9826 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9827 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9828 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9829 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9831 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9832 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9833 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9835 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9837 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9838 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9839 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9840 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9844 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9845 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9846 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9847 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9848 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9849 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9850 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9851 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9852 other windows displayed next to it.
9854 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9858 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9859 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9862 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9863 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9864 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9865 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9866 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9867 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9868 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9872 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9875 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9885 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9890 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9891 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9893 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9895 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9901 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9902 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9903 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9906 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9907 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9908 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9909 (gnus-add-configuration
9913 (summary 0.75 point)
9918 @xref{Window Layout}.
9921 @node Mail Group Commands
9922 @section Mail Group Commands
9923 @cindex mail group commands
9925 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9926 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9928 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9929 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9934 @kindex B e (Summary)
9935 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9936 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9937 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9938 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9939 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9942 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9943 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9944 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9945 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9946 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9947 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9950 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9951 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9952 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9953 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9954 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9955 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9958 @kindex B m (Summary)
9960 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9961 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9962 Move the article from one mail group to another
9963 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9964 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9967 @kindex B c (Summary)
9969 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9970 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9971 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9972 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9973 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9976 @kindex B B (Summary)
9977 @cindex crosspost mail
9978 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9979 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9980 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9981 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9982 be properly updated.
9985 @kindex B i (Summary)
9986 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9987 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9988 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9989 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9992 @kindex B I (Summary)
9993 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9994 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9995 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9996 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9999 @kindex B r (Summary)
10000 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10001 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10002 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10003 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10004 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10005 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10006 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10007 (which is the default).
10011 @kindex B w (Summary)
10012 @kindex e (Summary)
10013 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10014 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10015 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10016 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10017 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10018 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10019 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10022 @kindex B q (Summary)
10023 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10024 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10025 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10026 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10029 @kindex B t (Summary)
10030 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10031 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10032 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10035 @kindex B p (Summary)
10036 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10037 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10038 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10039 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10040 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10041 article from your news server (or rather, from
10042 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10043 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10044 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10045 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10046 just not have arrived yet.
10049 @kindex K E (Summary)
10050 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10051 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10052 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10053 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10054 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10058 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10059 @cindex moving articles
10060 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
10061 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10062 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10063 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10064 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10065 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10066 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10069 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10070 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10071 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10072 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10076 @node Various Summary Stuff
10077 @section Various Summary Stuff
10080 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10081 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10082 * Summary Generation Commands::
10083 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10087 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10088 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10089 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10090 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10091 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10092 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10094 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10095 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10096 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10099 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10100 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10101 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10103 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10104 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10105 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10106 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10107 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10108 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10111 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10112 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10113 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10114 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10115 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10117 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10118 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10119 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10122 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10123 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10124 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10125 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10126 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10127 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10128 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10129 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10130 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10131 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10133 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10134 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10135 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10136 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10137 list of articles to be selected.
10139 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10140 the list in one particular group:
10143 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10144 (if (string= group "some.group")
10145 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10149 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10150 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10151 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10152 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10153 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10154 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10155 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10156 other buffers. For example:
10159 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10160 '(message-use-followup-to
10161 (gnus-visible-headers .
10162 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10168 @node Summary Group Information
10169 @subsection Summary Group Information
10174 @kindex H f (Summary)
10175 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10176 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10177 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10178 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10179 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10180 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10181 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10182 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10183 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10186 @kindex H d (Summary)
10187 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10188 Give a brief description of the current group
10189 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10190 rereading the description from the server.
10193 @kindex H h (Summary)
10194 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10195 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10196 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10199 @kindex H i (Summary)
10200 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10201 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10205 @node Searching for Articles
10206 @subsection Searching for Articles
10211 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10212 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10213 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10214 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10217 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10218 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10219 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10220 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10223 @kindex & (Summary)
10224 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10225 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10226 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10227 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10228 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10229 search backward instead.
10231 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10232 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10235 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10236 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10237 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10238 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10241 @node Summary Generation Commands
10242 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10247 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10248 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10249 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10252 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10253 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10254 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10255 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10258 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10259 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10260 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10261 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10266 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10267 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10273 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10274 @kindex A D (Summary)
10275 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10276 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10277 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10278 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10279 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10280 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10281 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10282 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10286 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10287 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10288 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10289 several documents into one biiig group
10290 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10291 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10292 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10293 command understands the process/prefix convention
10294 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10297 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10298 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10299 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10300 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10301 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10302 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10305 @kindex = (Summary)
10306 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10307 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10308 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10311 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10312 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10313 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10314 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10317 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10318 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10319 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10320 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10325 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10326 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10327 @cindex summary exit
10328 @cindex exiting groups
10330 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10331 group and return you to the group buffer.
10338 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10339 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10340 @kindex q (Summary)
10341 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10342 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10343 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10344 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10345 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10346 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10347 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10348 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10349 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10350 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10351 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10352 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10356 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10357 @kindex Q (Summary)
10358 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10359 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10360 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10364 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10365 @kindex c (Summary)
10366 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10367 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10368 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10369 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10372 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10373 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10374 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10375 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10378 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10379 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10380 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10381 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10385 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10386 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10387 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10388 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10389 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10390 all articles, both read and unread.
10394 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10395 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10396 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10397 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10398 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10399 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10400 articles, both read and unread.
10403 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10404 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10405 Exit the group and go to the next group
10406 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10409 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10410 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10411 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10412 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10415 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10416 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10417 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10418 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10419 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10420 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10423 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10424 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10425 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10426 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10428 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10429 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10430 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10431 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10432 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10433 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10434 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10435 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10436 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10437 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10438 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10439 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10441 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10443 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10444 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10445 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10446 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10447 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10448 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10449 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10450 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10451 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10454 @node Crosspost Handling
10455 @section Crosspost Handling
10459 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10460 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10461 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10462 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10463 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10464 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10467 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10468 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10469 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10470 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10471 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10473 @cindex cross-posting
10475 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10476 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10477 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10478 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10479 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10480 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10481 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10482 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10483 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10484 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10485 the cross reference mechanism.
10487 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10488 @cindex overview.fmt
10489 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10490 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10491 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10492 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10493 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10494 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10497 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10498 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10499 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10504 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10507 @node Duplicate Suppression
10508 @section Duplicate Suppression
10510 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10511 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10512 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10513 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10518 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10519 is evil and not very common.
10522 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10523 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10526 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10527 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10530 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10533 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10534 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10536 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10537 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10538 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10539 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10540 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10541 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10542 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10545 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10546 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10547 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10548 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10549 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10550 saw the article in.
10553 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10554 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10555 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10557 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10558 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10559 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10560 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10561 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10562 session are suppressed.
10564 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10565 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10566 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10567 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10569 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10570 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10571 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10572 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10575 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10576 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10577 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10578 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10579 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10580 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10581 to you to figure out, I think.
10586 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10587 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10588 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10593 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10594 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10595 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10596 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10599 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10600 or newer is recommended.
10604 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10605 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10608 @item mm-verify-option
10609 @vindex mm-verify-option
10610 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10611 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10612 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10614 @item mm-decrypt-option
10615 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10616 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10617 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10618 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10621 @vindex mml1991-use
10622 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10623 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10624 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10628 @vindex mml2015-use
10629 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10630 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10631 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10636 @cindex snarfing keys
10637 @cindex importing PGP keys
10638 @cindex PGP key ring import
10639 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10640 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10641 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10642 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10643 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10644 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10645 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10646 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10647 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10650 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10653 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10654 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10657 @section Mailing List
10658 @cindex mailing list
10661 @kindex A M (summary)
10662 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10663 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10664 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10665 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10668 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10673 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10674 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10675 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10678 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10679 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10680 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10683 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10684 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10685 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10689 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10690 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10691 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10694 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10695 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10696 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10699 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10700 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10701 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10706 @node Article Buffer
10707 @chapter Article Buffer
10708 @cindex article buffer
10710 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10711 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10712 tell gnus otherwise.
10715 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10716 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10717 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10718 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10719 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10723 @node Hiding Headers
10724 @section Hiding Headers
10725 @cindex hiding headers
10726 @cindex deleting headers
10728 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10729 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10731 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10732 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10733 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10734 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10735 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10736 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10737 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10738 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10739 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10741 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10745 @item gnus-visible-headers
10746 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10747 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10748 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10749 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10751 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10752 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10755 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10758 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10761 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10762 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10763 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10764 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10765 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10766 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10768 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10769 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10772 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10775 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10778 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10779 variable will have no effect.
10783 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10784 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10785 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10786 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10787 the headers are to be displayed.
10789 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10790 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10793 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10796 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10797 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10799 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10800 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10801 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10802 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10803 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10804 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10805 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10808 These conditions are:
10811 Remove all empty headers.
10813 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10814 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10816 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10817 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10820 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10823 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10824 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10826 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10827 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10829 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10830 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10832 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10835 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10837 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10840 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10843 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10844 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10847 This is also the default value for this variable.
10851 @section Using MIME
10852 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10854 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10855 while people stand around yawning.
10857 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10858 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10860 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10861 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10862 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10864 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10865 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10866 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10867 gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
10868 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10869 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10870 calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
10871 more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
10872 (however it is not existed yet, sorry).
10874 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10875 @acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
10876 then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10877 These can't be avoided.
10879 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10880 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10881 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10882 @acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
10883 horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
10884 can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
10885 starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
10886 and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
10887 in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
10888 feel rather stupid.)
10890 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10892 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10893 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10894 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10895 buffer when there are nobody else.
10897 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10900 @node Customizing Articles
10901 @section Customizing Articles
10902 @cindex article customization
10904 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10905 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10906 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10907 called automatically when you select the articles.
10909 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10910 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10911 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10912 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10914 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10915 for sensible values.
10919 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10922 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10925 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10928 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10931 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10935 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10936 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10937 regexps in the list.
10940 A list where the first element is not a string:
10942 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10943 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10944 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10948 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10952 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10957 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10958 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
10959 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10960 considered to contain just a single part.
10962 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10963 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10964 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10965 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10966 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10967 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10968 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10970 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10971 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10972 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10973 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10976 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10977 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10979 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10981 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10982 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10983 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10984 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10985 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10986 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10987 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10988 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10989 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10990 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10991 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10993 @xref{Article Washing}.
10995 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10996 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10997 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10998 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10999 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11000 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11001 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11003 @xref{Article Date}.
11005 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11006 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11007 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11011 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11013 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11015 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11016 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11017 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11021 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11025 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11029 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11030 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11031 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11032 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11033 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11034 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11035 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11036 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11037 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11038 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11040 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11042 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11043 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11044 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11046 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11048 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11049 @item gnus-treat-translate
11050 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11052 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11053 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11054 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11055 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11057 @xref{Article Header}.
11062 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11063 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11064 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11065 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11066 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11070 @node Article Keymap
11071 @section Article Keymap
11073 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11074 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11075 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11076 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11079 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11084 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11085 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11086 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11087 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11090 @kindex DEL (Article)
11091 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11092 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11093 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11096 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11097 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11098 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11099 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11100 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11103 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11104 @findex gnus-article-mail
11105 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11106 given a prefix, include the mail.
11109 @kindex s (Article)
11110 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11111 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11112 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11115 @kindex ? (Article)
11116 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11117 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11118 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11121 @kindex TAB (Article)
11122 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11123 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11124 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11127 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11128 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11129 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11132 @kindex R (Article)
11133 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11134 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11135 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11136 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11140 @kindex F (Article)
11141 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11142 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11143 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11144 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11152 @section Misc Article
11156 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11157 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11158 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11159 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11162 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11163 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11164 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11165 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11166 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11168 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11169 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11170 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11171 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11172 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11173 the contents of the article buffer.
11175 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11176 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11177 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11179 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11180 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11181 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11182 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11184 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11185 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11186 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11187 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11189 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11190 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11191 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11192 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11193 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11199 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11200 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11201 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11206 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11209 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11212 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11213 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11214 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11217 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11220 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11223 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11228 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11232 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11234 @item gnus-break-pages
11235 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11236 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11237 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11238 paging will not be done.
11240 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11241 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11242 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11246 @cindex internationalized domain names
11247 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11248 @item gnus-use-idna
11249 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11250 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11251 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11252 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11253 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11258 @node Composing Messages
11259 @chapter Composing Messages
11260 @cindex composing messages
11263 @cindex sending mail
11268 @cindex using s/mime
11269 @cindex using smime
11271 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11272 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11273 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11274 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11275 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11276 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11279 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11280 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11281 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11282 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11283 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11284 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11285 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11286 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11289 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11290 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11296 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11299 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11300 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11301 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11302 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11303 @code{nil} include all headers.
11305 @item gnus-add-to-list
11306 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11307 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11308 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11310 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11311 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11312 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11313 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11314 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11315 confirmation is should be asked for.
11317 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11318 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11320 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11321 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11322 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11323 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11324 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11329 @node Posting Server
11330 @section Posting Server
11332 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11333 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11335 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11337 It can be quite complicated.
11339 @vindex gnus-post-method
11340 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11341 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11342 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11343 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11344 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11345 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11346 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11347 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11348 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11351 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11354 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11355 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11356 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11357 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11359 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11360 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11362 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11363 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11366 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11367 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11369 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11370 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11371 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11372 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11373 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11374 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11375 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11376 package correctly. An example:
11379 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11380 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11381 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11382 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11383 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11386 To the thing similar to this, there is
11387 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11388 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11389 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11391 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11392 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11393 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11395 @node Mail and Post
11396 @section Mail and Post
11398 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11402 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11403 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11404 @cindex mailing lists
11406 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11407 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11408 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11409 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11410 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11411 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11412 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11413 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11414 still a pain, though.
11416 @item gnus-user-agent
11417 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11420 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11421 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11422 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11423 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11424 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11425 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11426 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11430 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11431 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11432 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11435 @findex ispell-message
11437 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11440 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11441 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11444 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11448 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11449 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11451 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11454 Modify to suit your needs.
11457 @node Archived Messages
11458 @section Archived Messages
11459 @cindex archived messages
11460 @cindex sent messages
11462 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11463 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11464 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11465 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11468 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11469 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11472 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11473 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11474 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11477 (nnfolder "archive"
11478 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11479 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11480 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11481 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11484 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11485 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11486 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11487 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11490 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11491 '(nnfolder "archive"
11492 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11493 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11494 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11497 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11499 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11500 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11501 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11503 This variable can be used to do the following:
11507 Messages will be saved in that group.
11509 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11510 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11511 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11512 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11513 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11514 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11515 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11516 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11519 @item a list of strings
11520 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11522 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11523 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11526 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11531 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11533 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11536 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11538 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11541 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11543 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11544 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11545 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11546 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11549 More complex stuff:
11551 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11552 '((if (message-news-p)
11557 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11558 messages in one file per month:
11561 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11562 '((if (message-news-p)
11564 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11567 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11568 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11570 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11571 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11572 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11573 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11574 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11575 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11576 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11577 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11578 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11579 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11581 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11582 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11583 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11584 this will disable archiving.
11587 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11588 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11589 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11590 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11591 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11594 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11595 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11596 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11599 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11600 but the latter is the preferred method.
11602 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11603 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11604 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11606 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11607 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11608 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11609 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11610 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11611 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11612 changed in the future.
11617 @node Posting Styles
11618 @section Posting Styles
11619 @cindex posting styles
11622 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11624 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11625 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11626 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11629 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11630 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11631 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11632 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11633 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11638 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11639 (organization "What me?"))
11641 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11642 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11643 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11646 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11647 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11648 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11649 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11650 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11651 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11652 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11653 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11655 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11656 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11657 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11658 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11659 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11660 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11661 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11662 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11663 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11664 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11665 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11666 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11667 said to @dfn{match}.
11669 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11670 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11671 attribute name can be one of:
11674 @item @code{signature}
11675 @item @code{signature-file}
11676 @item @code{x-face-file}
11677 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11678 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11682 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11683 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11684 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11685 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11686 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11688 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11689 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11690 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11691 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11692 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11693 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11694 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11695 references chars lines xref extra.
11697 @vindex message-reply-headers
11699 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11700 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11701 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11703 @findex message-mail-p
11704 @findex message-news-p
11706 So here's a new example:
11709 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11711 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11713 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11714 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11716 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11717 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11718 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11719 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11720 (signature my-news-signature))
11721 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11722 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11723 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11724 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11725 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11726 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11727 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11728 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11729 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11730 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11732 (From (save-excursion
11733 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11734 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11736 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11739 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11740 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11741 if you fill many roles.
11743 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11744 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11745 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11746 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11747 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11748 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11749 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11750 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11755 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11757 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11759 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11760 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11763 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11766 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11767 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11774 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11775 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11776 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11777 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11778 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11780 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11781 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11782 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11783 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11784 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11788 @vindex nndraft-directory
11789 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11790 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11791 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11792 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11793 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11794 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11796 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11797 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11798 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11799 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11800 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11801 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11802 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11803 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11804 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11806 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11807 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11808 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11809 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11810 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11811 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11812 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11813 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11814 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11815 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11816 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11817 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11818 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11819 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11821 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11822 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11823 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11825 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11826 @kindex D e (Draft)
11827 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11828 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11829 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11831 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11834 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11835 @kindex D s (Draft)
11836 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11837 @kindex D S (Draft)
11838 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11839 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11840 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11841 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11842 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11845 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11846 @kindex D t (Draft)
11847 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11848 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11849 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11852 @node Rejected Articles
11853 @section Rejected Articles
11854 @cindex rejected articles
11856 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11857 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11858 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11859 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11861 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11862 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11863 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11864 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11865 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11867 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11868 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11869 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11871 @node Signing and encrypting
11872 @section Signing and encrypting
11874 @cindex using s/mime
11875 @cindex using smime
11877 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11878 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11879 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11880 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11882 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11883 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11884 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11885 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11886 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11887 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11888 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11889 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11890 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11891 automatically encrypted messages.
11893 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11894 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11895 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11900 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
11901 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11903 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11906 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
11907 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11909 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11912 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
11913 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11915 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11918 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
11919 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11921 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11924 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
11925 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11927 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11930 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
11931 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11933 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11936 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
11937 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11938 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
11942 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11944 @node Select Methods
11945 @chapter Select Methods
11946 @cindex foreign groups
11947 @cindex select methods
11949 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11950 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11951 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11952 personal mail group.
11954 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11955 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11956 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11957 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11958 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11959 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11961 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11962 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11964 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11967 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
11968 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11969 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11970 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11971 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11973 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11976 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11977 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11978 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11979 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11980 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
11981 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11982 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11983 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11987 @node Server Buffer
11988 @section Server Buffer
11990 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11991 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11992 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11993 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11994 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11995 back end represents a virtual server.
11997 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11998 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11999 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12000 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12002 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12003 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12004 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12005 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12006 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12007 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12008 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12010 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12011 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12014 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12015 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12016 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12017 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12018 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12019 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12020 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12023 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12024 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12027 @node Server Buffer Format
12028 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12029 @cindex server buffer format
12031 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12032 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12033 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12034 variable, with some simple extensions:
12039 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12042 The name of this server.
12045 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12048 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12051 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12052 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12053 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12054 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12064 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12067 @node Server Commands
12068 @subsection Server Commands
12069 @cindex server commands
12075 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12076 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12080 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12081 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12084 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12085 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12086 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12090 @findex gnus-server-exit
12091 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12095 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12096 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12100 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12101 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12105 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12106 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12110 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12111 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12115 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12116 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12117 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12122 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12123 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12124 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12125 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12130 @node Example Methods
12131 @subsection Example Methods
12133 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12136 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12139 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12145 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12146 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12149 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12150 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12152 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12153 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12157 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12160 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12161 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12163 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12164 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12165 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12169 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12172 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12175 Here's the method for a public spool:
12179 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12180 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12186 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12187 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12188 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12189 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12190 should probably look something like this:
12194 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12195 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12196 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12197 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12200 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12201 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12202 configuration to the example above:
12205 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12208 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12210 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12211 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12212 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12216 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12217 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12218 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12219 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12222 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12223 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12224 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12225 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12228 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12229 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12231 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12232 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12234 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12235 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12236 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12238 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12240 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12241 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12242 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12243 will contain the following:
12253 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12254 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12257 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12258 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12259 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12262 @node Server Variables
12263 @subsection Server Variables
12264 @cindex server variables
12265 @cindex server parameters
12267 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12268 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12269 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12270 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12271 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12273 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12274 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12275 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12276 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12277 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12278 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12279 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12280 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12281 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12285 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12286 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12287 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12290 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12292 @node Servers and Methods
12293 @subsection Servers and Methods
12295 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12296 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12297 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12298 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12302 @node Unavailable Servers
12303 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12305 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12306 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12307 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12308 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12309 actually the case or not.
12311 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12312 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12313 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12314 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12315 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12316 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12317 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12318 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12320 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12321 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12323 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12324 with the following commands:
12330 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12331 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12332 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12336 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12337 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12338 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12342 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12343 Mark the current server as unreachable
12344 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12347 @kindex M-o (Server)
12348 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12349 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12350 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12353 @kindex M-c (Server)
12354 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12355 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12356 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12360 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12361 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12362 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12366 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12367 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12373 @section Getting News
12374 @cindex reading news
12375 @cindex news back ends
12377 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12378 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12379 or it can read from a local spool.
12382 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12383 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12391 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12392 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12393 server as the, uhm, address.
12395 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12396 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12397 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12398 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12400 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12401 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12402 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12404 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12409 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12410 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12411 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12413 @cindex authentification
12414 @cindex nntp authentification
12415 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12416 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12417 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12418 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12419 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12420 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12421 present in this hook.
12423 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12424 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12425 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12426 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12427 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12428 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12429 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12430 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12431 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12432 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12433 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12434 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12438 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12441 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12443 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12444 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12445 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12446 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12447 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12448 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12449 @samp{force} is explained below.
12453 Here's an example file:
12456 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12457 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12460 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12461 have to be first, for instance.
12463 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12464 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12465 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12466 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12467 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12468 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12469 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12471 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12472 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12478 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12479 previously mentioned.
12481 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12483 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12484 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12485 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12486 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12487 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12490 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12491 '(("innd" (ding))))
12494 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12496 The default value is
12499 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12500 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12501 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12504 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12505 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12507 @item nntp-maximum-request
12508 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12509 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12510 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12511 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12512 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12513 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12514 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12516 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12517 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12518 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12519 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12520 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12521 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12522 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12523 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12524 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12525 no timeouts are done.
12527 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12528 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12529 @c @cindex PPP connections
12530 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12531 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12532 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12533 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12534 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12535 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12536 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12537 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12538 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12539 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12541 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12542 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12543 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12544 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12545 @c described above.
12547 @item nntp-server-hook
12548 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12549 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12552 @item nntp-buggy-select
12553 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12554 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12556 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12557 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12558 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12559 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12562 @item nntp-xover-commands
12563 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12564 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12566 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12567 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12571 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12572 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12573 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12574 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12575 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12576 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12577 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12578 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12579 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12580 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12581 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12583 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12584 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12585 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12587 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12588 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12589 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12590 server closes connection.
12592 @item nntp-record-commands
12593 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12594 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12595 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12596 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12597 that doesn't seem to work.
12599 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12600 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12601 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12602 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12603 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12604 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12605 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12606 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12608 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12609 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12610 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12611 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12612 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12613 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12614 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12617 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12620 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12621 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12623 @item nntp-read-timeout
12624 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12625 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12626 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12627 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12628 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12631 @item nntp-list-options
12632 @vindex nntp-list-options
12633 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12634 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12635 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12636 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12637 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12641 (setq gnus-select-method
12642 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12643 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12646 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12647 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12648 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12649 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12650 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12651 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12652 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12655 (setq gnus-select-method
12656 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12657 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12660 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12661 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12662 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12663 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12664 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12665 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12666 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12669 (setq gnus-select-method
12670 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12671 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12676 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12677 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12678 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12682 @node Direct Functions
12683 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12684 @cindex direct connection functions
12686 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12687 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12688 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12689 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12692 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12693 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12694 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12697 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12698 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12699 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12700 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12701 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12704 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12705 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12707 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12708 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12709 (nntp-port-number )
12710 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12713 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12714 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12715 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12716 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12717 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12718 then define a server as follows:
12721 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12722 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12724 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12725 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12726 (nntp-port-number 563)
12727 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12730 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12731 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12732 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12733 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12734 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12735 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12736 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12737 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12741 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12742 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12743 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12746 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12747 session, which is not a good idea.
12751 @node Indirect Functions
12752 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12753 @cindex indirect connection functions
12755 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12756 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12757 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12758 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12759 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12760 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12763 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12764 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12765 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12766 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12767 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12769 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12772 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12773 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12774 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12775 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12777 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12778 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12779 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12780 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12781 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12782 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12783 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12784 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12788 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12789 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12790 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12791 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12793 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12796 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12797 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12798 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12801 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12802 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12803 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12804 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12806 @item nntp-via-user-password
12807 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12808 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12810 @item nntp-via-envuser
12811 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12812 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12813 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12814 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12816 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12817 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12818 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12819 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12826 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12831 @item nntp-via-user-name
12832 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12833 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12835 @item nntp-via-address
12836 @vindex nntp-via-address
12837 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12842 @node Common Variables
12843 @subsubsection Common Variables
12845 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12846 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12851 @item nntp-pre-command
12852 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12853 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12854 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12855 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12856 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12859 @vindex nntp-address
12860 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12862 @item nntp-port-number
12863 @vindex nntp-port-number
12864 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12865 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12866 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12867 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12868 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12869 not work with named ports.
12871 @item nntp-end-of-line
12872 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12873 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12874 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12875 using a non native connection function.
12877 @item nntp-telnet-command
12878 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12879 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12880 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12881 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12884 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12885 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12886 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12893 @subsection News Spool
12897 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12898 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12899 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12902 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12903 anything else) as the address.
12905 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12906 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12907 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12908 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12912 @item nnspool-inews-program
12913 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12914 Program used to post an article.
12916 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12917 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12918 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12920 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12921 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12922 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12923 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12925 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12926 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12927 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12928 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12930 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12931 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12932 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12934 @item nnspool-active-file
12935 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12936 The name of the active file.
12938 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12939 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12940 The name of the group descriptions file.
12942 @item nnspool-history-file
12943 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12944 The name of the news history file.
12946 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12947 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12948 The name of the active date file.
12950 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12951 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12952 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12955 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12956 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12958 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12959 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12960 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
12967 @section Getting Mail
12968 @cindex reading mail
12971 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12975 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12976 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12977 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12978 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12979 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12980 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12981 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12982 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12983 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12984 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
12985 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12986 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12987 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12991 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12992 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12994 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12995 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12996 of a culture shock.
12998 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12999 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13001 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13002 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13003 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13004 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13006 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13008 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13009 deleted? How awful!
13011 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13012 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13013 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13014 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13017 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13018 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13019 they want to treat a message.
13021 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13022 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13023 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13024 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13025 archived somewhere else.
13027 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13028 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13029 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13030 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13031 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13033 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13034 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13035 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13037 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13038 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13041 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13042 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13043 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13044 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13045 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13047 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13048 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13049 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13050 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13051 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13052 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13056 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13057 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13059 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13060 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13061 and things will happen automatically.
13063 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13064 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13067 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13070 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13071 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13072 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13073 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13074 like any other group.
13076 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13079 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13080 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13081 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13085 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13086 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13087 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13090 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13091 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13092 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13095 @node Splitting Mail
13096 @subsection Splitting Mail
13097 @cindex splitting mail
13098 @cindex mail splitting
13099 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13101 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13102 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13103 to be split into groups.
13106 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13107 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13108 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13109 ("mail.other" "")))
13112 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13113 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13114 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13115 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13116 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13117 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13118 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13121 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13124 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13125 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13126 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13127 mail belongs in that group.
13129 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13130 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13131 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13132 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13133 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13134 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13136 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13137 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13138 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13139 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13140 thinks should carry this mail message.
13142 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13143 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13144 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13145 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13147 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13148 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13149 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13150 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13151 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13153 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13156 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13157 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13158 links. If that's the case for you, set
13159 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13160 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13162 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13163 @findex nnmail-split-history
13164 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13165 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13166 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13167 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13170 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13171 Header lines longer than the value of
13172 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13175 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13176 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13177 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13178 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13179 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13180 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13181 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13182 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13184 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13185 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13186 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13187 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13188 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13189 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13190 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13191 other kinds of entries.)
13193 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13194 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13195 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13196 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13197 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13198 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13199 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13200 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13201 month's rent money.
13205 @subsection Mail Sources
13207 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13208 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13209 maildir, for instance.
13212 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13213 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13214 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13218 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13219 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13221 @cindex mail server
13224 @cindex mail source
13226 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13227 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13232 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13235 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13236 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13237 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13240 The following mail source types are available:
13244 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13250 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13251 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13252 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13256 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13259 An example file mail source:
13262 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13265 Or using the default file name:
13271 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13272 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13273 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13274 mail spool while moving the mail.
13276 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13280 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13283 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13287 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13290 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13292 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13295 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13299 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13300 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13301 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13302 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13303 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13304 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13305 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13306 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13307 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13308 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13310 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13311 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13312 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13313 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13319 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13323 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13327 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13328 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13329 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13330 predicate are considered.
13334 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13338 An example directory mail source:
13341 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13346 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13352 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13353 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13356 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13357 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13358 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13359 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13360 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13363 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13367 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13368 the user is prompted.
13371 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13372 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13375 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13378 The valid format specifier characters are:
13382 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13383 included in this string.
13386 The name of the server.
13389 The port number of the server.
13392 The user name to use.
13395 The password to use.
13398 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13399 corresponding keywords.
13402 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13403 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13406 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13407 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13410 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13411 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13412 mail should be moved to.
13414 @item :authentication
13415 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13416 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13420 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13421 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13422 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13423 programs and libraries:
13427 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13428 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13429 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13431 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13432 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13437 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13438 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13442 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13443 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13445 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13446 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13452 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13455 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13456 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13459 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13462 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13466 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13467 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13468 contains exactly one mail.
13474 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13475 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13478 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13479 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13481 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13482 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13483 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13486 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13487 from locking problems).
13491 Two example maildir mail sources:
13494 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13495 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13499 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13504 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13505 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13506 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13507 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13508 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13510 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13511 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13517 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13518 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13521 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13522 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13525 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13529 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13533 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13534 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13535 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13536 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13538 @item :authentication
13539 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13540 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13541 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13542 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13545 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13546 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13547 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13553 The valid format specifier characters are:
13557 The name of the server.
13560 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13563 The port number of the server.
13566 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13567 corresponding keywords.
13570 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13571 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13574 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13575 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13576 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13577 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13578 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13579 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13582 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13583 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13584 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13585 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13588 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13589 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13593 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13596 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13598 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13602 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13603 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13604 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13606 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13607 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13609 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13615 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13616 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13619 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13623 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13627 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13628 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13632 An example webmail source:
13635 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13637 :password "secret")
13642 @item Common Keywords
13643 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13649 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13650 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13655 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13660 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13661 useful when you use local mail and news.
13666 @subsubsection Function Interface
13668 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13669 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13670 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13671 consider the following mail-source setting:
13674 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13675 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13678 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13679 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13680 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13681 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13682 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13684 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13687 @node Mail Source Customization
13688 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13690 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13691 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13695 @item mail-source-crash-box
13696 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13697 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13698 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13700 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13701 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13702 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13703 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13704 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13705 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13706 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13707 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13709 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13710 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13711 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13712 files. This variable only applies when
13713 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13715 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13716 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13717 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13719 @item mail-source-directory
13720 @vindex mail-source-directory
13721 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13722 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13723 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13726 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13727 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13728 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13729 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13730 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13731 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13733 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13734 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13735 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13737 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13738 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13739 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13740 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13745 @node Fetching Mail
13746 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13748 @vindex mail-sources
13749 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13750 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13751 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13752 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13754 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13755 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13758 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13759 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13764 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13765 :password "secret")))
13768 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13772 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13773 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13776 :password "secret")))
13780 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13781 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13782 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13783 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13784 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13785 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13789 @node Mail Back End Variables
13790 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13792 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13796 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13797 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13798 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13799 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13801 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13802 @item nnmail-split-hook
13803 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13804 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13805 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13806 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13807 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13808 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13809 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13810 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13811 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13814 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13815 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13816 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13817 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13818 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13819 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13820 starting to handle the new mail) and
13821 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13822 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13823 default file modes the new mail files get:
13826 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13827 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13829 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13830 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13833 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13834 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13835 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13836 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13837 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13838 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13839 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13841 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13842 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13843 @findex delete-file
13844 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13846 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13847 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13848 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13849 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13850 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13852 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13853 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13854 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13855 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13856 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13858 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13859 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13860 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13865 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13866 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13867 @cindex mail splitting
13868 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13870 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13871 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13872 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13873 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13874 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13875 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13877 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13880 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13881 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13882 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13883 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13885 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13886 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13887 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13888 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13889 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13890 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13891 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13892 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13893 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13894 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13895 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13896 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13897 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13898 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13899 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13900 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13901 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13905 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13906 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13907 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13912 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13913 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13915 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13916 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13917 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13918 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13919 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13920 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13921 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13923 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13924 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13925 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13926 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13927 stored in one or more groups.
13929 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13930 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13931 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13934 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13935 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13937 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13938 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13939 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13940 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13943 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13944 body of the messages:
13947 (defun split-on-body ()
13951 (goto-char (point-min))
13952 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13956 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13957 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13958 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
13959 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
13960 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
13961 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
13964 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
13965 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
13966 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
13967 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
13968 should return a split.
13971 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13975 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13976 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13977 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13978 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13979 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13981 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13982 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
13983 they are expanded as specified by the variable
13984 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
13985 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
13986 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
13987 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
13991 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
13993 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
13994 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
13996 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
13999 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14000 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14001 when all this splitting is performed.
14003 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14004 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14005 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14008 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14011 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14012 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14014 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14015 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14016 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14017 groupings 1 through 9.
14019 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14020 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14021 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14023 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14024 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14025 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14026 surrounded by anything.
14029 (any "joe" "joemail")
14032 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14033 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14034 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14035 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14036 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14038 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14039 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14040 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14041 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14042 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14043 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14044 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14045 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14046 it once per thread.
14048 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14049 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14050 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14051 using the colon feature, like so:
14053 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14054 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14056 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14057 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14061 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14062 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14063 in the file specified by the variable
14064 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14065 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14066 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14067 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14068 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14069 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14070 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14071 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14072 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14073 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14074 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14075 300 kBytes in size.)
14076 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14077 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14078 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14079 messages goes into the new group.
14081 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14082 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14083 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14084 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14085 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14086 ``outgoing'' group.
14089 @node Group Mail Splitting
14090 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14091 @cindex mail splitting
14092 @cindex group mail splitting
14094 @findex gnus-group-split
14095 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14096 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14097 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14098 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14099 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14100 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14101 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14102 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14104 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14105 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14106 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14107 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14109 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14110 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14111 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14112 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14113 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14114 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14115 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14117 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14118 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14119 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14120 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14121 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14122 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14123 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14125 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14126 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14127 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14128 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14129 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14130 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14131 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14132 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14133 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14134 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14135 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14136 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14137 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14139 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14144 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14145 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14147 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14148 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14149 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14150 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14152 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14155 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14156 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14157 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14160 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14161 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14162 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14166 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14167 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14168 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14172 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14175 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14176 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14177 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14178 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14179 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14180 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14181 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14182 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14183 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14185 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14186 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14187 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14188 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14189 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14190 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14191 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14192 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14193 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14195 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14196 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14197 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14198 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14199 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14200 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14203 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14206 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14207 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14208 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14209 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14210 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14213 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14214 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14215 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14216 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14218 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14219 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14220 @cindex incorporating old mail
14221 @cindex import old mail
14223 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14224 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14225 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14228 Doing so can be quite easy.
14230 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14231 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14232 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14233 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14234 your @code{nnml} groups.
14240 Go to the group buffer.
14243 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14244 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14247 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14250 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14251 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14254 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14255 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14258 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14259 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14260 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14261 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14262 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14264 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14265 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14266 using the new mail back end.
14269 @node Expiring Mail
14270 @subsection Expiring Mail
14271 @cindex article expiry
14273 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14274 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14275 different approach to mail reading.
14277 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14278 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14279 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14280 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14281 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14282 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14285 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14286 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14287 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14288 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14289 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14290 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14291 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14292 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14293 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14295 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14296 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14297 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14298 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14299 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14300 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14301 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14304 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14305 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14306 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14307 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14308 into its own group.)
14310 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14311 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14312 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14313 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14314 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14315 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14316 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14317 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14320 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14321 Groups that match the regular expression
14322 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14323 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14324 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14326 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14327 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14328 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14329 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14330 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14332 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14334 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14335 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14336 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14339 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14340 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14341 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14342 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14343 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14345 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14346 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14349 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14350 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14353 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14354 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14356 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14357 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14358 don't really mix very well.
14360 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14361 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14362 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14363 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14366 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14367 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14368 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14369 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14372 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14374 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14376 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14378 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14380 ((string= group "important")
14386 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14387 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14389 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14390 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14391 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14394 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14395 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14397 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14398 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14399 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14400 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14401 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14402 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14403 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14404 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14405 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14406 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14407 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14408 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14409 name or @code{delete}.
14411 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14413 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14416 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14417 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14418 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14419 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14420 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14423 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14424 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14425 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14426 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14427 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14430 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14431 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14432 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14433 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14434 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14435 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14437 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14438 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14439 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14440 easier for procmail users.
14442 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14443 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14444 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14445 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14446 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14447 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14448 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14449 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14450 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14451 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14452 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14453 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14454 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14457 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14459 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14460 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14461 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14462 auto-expire turned on.
14466 @subsection Washing Mail
14467 @cindex mail washing
14468 @cindex list server brain damage
14469 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14471 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14472 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14473 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14474 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14475 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14476 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14478 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14479 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14480 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14483 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14484 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14485 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14486 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14489 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14490 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14491 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14492 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14493 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14496 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14497 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14498 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14499 Emacs running on MS machines.
14503 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14504 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14505 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14506 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14509 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14510 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14511 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14512 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14514 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14515 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14516 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14517 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14518 into a feature by documenting it.)
14520 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14521 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14522 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14523 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14524 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14525 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14526 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14529 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14530 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14533 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14534 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14537 This can also be done non-destructively with
14538 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14540 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14541 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14542 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14544 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14545 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14547 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14548 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14549 @code{References} headers.
14553 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14554 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14555 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14559 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14560 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14561 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14568 @subsection Duplicates
14570 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14571 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14572 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14573 @cindex duplicate mails
14574 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14575 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14576 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14577 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14578 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14579 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14580 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14581 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14582 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14583 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14584 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14585 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14586 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14588 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14589 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14590 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14591 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14593 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14596 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14597 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14601 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14602 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14603 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14604 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14605 (any mail "mail.misc")
14606 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14612 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14613 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14614 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14618 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14619 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14620 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14621 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14622 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14625 @node Not Reading Mail
14626 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14628 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14629 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14630 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14632 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14633 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14634 mail, which should help.
14636 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14637 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14638 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14639 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14640 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14641 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14642 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14643 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14644 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14645 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14646 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14648 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14649 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14653 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14654 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14656 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14657 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14658 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14660 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14661 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14662 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14666 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14667 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14668 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14669 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14670 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14671 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14672 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14676 @node Unix Mail Box
14677 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14679 @cindex unix mail box
14681 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14682 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14683 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14684 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14685 which group it belongs in.
14687 Virtual server settings:
14690 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14691 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14692 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14695 @item nnmbox-active-file
14696 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14697 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14698 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14700 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14701 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14702 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14703 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14708 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14712 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14713 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14714 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14715 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14716 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14718 Virtual server settings:
14721 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14722 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14723 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14725 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14726 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14727 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14728 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14730 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14731 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14732 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14738 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14740 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14742 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14743 format. It should be used with some caution.
14745 @vindex nnml-directory
14746 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14747 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14748 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14749 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14751 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14754 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14755 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14756 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14757 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14758 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14759 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14760 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14761 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14763 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14764 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14765 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14766 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14768 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14770 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14771 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14772 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14773 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14774 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14775 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14776 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14777 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14780 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14781 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14782 them next time it starts.
14784 Virtual server settings:
14787 @item nnml-directory
14788 @vindex nnml-directory
14789 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14790 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14793 @item nnml-active-file
14794 @vindex nnml-active-file
14795 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14796 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14798 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14799 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14800 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14801 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14803 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14804 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14805 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14808 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14809 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14810 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14811 default is @code{nil}.
14813 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14814 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14815 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14817 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14818 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14819 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14821 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14822 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14823 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14824 default is @code{nil}.
14826 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14827 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14828 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14830 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14831 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14832 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14837 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14838 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of whack,
14839 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14840 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14841 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14842 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14843 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14848 @subsubsection MH Spool
14850 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14852 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14853 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14854 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14855 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14857 Virtual server settings:
14860 @item nnmh-directory
14861 @vindex nnmh-directory
14862 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14863 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14866 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14867 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14868 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14872 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14873 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14874 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14875 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14876 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14877 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14878 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14883 @subsubsection Maildir
14887 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14888 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14889 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14890 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14891 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14894 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14895 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14896 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14897 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14898 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14899 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14902 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14903 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14904 data in the filesystem.
14906 nnmaildir stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each maildir. So you
14907 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14910 Virtual server settings:
14914 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14915 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14916 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14917 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14918 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14919 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14920 starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14921 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14922 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14925 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14926 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14927 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14928 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14929 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14930 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14931 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14932 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14933 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14934 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14936 @item target-prefix
14937 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14938 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14939 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14942 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14943 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14944 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14945 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14946 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14947 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14948 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14949 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14950 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14952 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14953 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14954 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14955 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14956 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14958 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14959 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14960 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14961 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14962 @code{force} argument.
14964 @item directory-files
14965 This should be a function with the same interface as
14966 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14967 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14968 parameter is optional; the default is
14969 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14970 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14971 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14972 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14973 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14974 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14977 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14978 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14979 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14980 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14981 value is @code{nil}.
14983 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14984 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14985 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14986 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14987 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14990 @subsubsection Group parameters
14992 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14993 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14994 behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after one week,
14995 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14996 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14997 duplicate the behavior you already have with another back end.
14999 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15000 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15001 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15002 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15003 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15004 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15005 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15006 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15007 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15011 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
15012 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15013 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15014 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
15015 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15016 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15017 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15018 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
15019 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15020 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15021 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15022 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15025 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15027 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15029 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15030 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15031 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
15032 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
15033 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15034 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15035 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15036 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15037 article. So that form can refer to
15038 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15039 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
15040 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15041 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15044 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
15045 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
15046 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
15047 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
15048 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
15049 directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
15050 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
15051 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
15052 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
15053 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
15054 extra copies of the articles.
15056 @item directory-files
15057 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15058 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15059 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15060 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15062 @item distrust-Lines:
15063 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
15064 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15065 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15068 A list of mark symbols, such as
15069 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
15070 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
15071 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
15072 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
15073 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15074 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15077 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15078 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
15079 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
15080 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15081 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15082 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15083 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15085 @item nov-cache-size
15086 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To speed
15087 things up, nnmaildir keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory for a limited number of
15088 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
15089 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
15090 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened---i.e.,
15091 when you first start Gnus, typically. The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized
15092 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
15093 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
15094 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
15095 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15098 @subsubsection Article identification
15099 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15100 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15101 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
15102 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15103 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15104 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15105 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15106 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15107 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15108 request the article in the summary buffer.
15110 @subsubsection NOV data
15111 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used to
15112 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15113 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15114 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15115 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically when the
15116 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
15117 nnmaildir to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a single article simply by
15118 deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV} file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
15119 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
15120 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15122 @subsubsection Article marks
15123 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15124 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15125 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
15126 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
15127 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
15128 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
15129 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
15130 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15132 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15133 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15134 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15135 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15136 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
15137 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
15138 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
15139 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
15140 changes, and might undo them.
15144 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15146 @cindex mbox folders
15147 @cindex mail folders
15149 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
15150 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
15151 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
15154 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15156 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15157 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15158 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15159 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15160 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15161 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15162 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
15163 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
15164 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
15165 @code{nnfolder} directory).
15167 Virtual server settings:
15170 @item nnfolder-directory
15171 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15172 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
15173 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15176 @item nnfolder-active-file
15177 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15178 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15180 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15181 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15182 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15183 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15185 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15186 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15187 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
15190 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15191 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15192 @cindex backup files
15193 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15194 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
15195 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
15196 your @file{.emacs} file:
15199 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15200 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15202 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15205 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15206 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15207 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15208 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15209 extract some information from it before removing it.
15211 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15212 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15213 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15214 default is @code{nil}.
15216 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15217 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15218 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15220 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15221 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15222 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15223 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15225 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15226 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15227 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15228 default is @code{nil}.
15230 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15231 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15232 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15234 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15235 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15236 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15237 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15242 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15243 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15244 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15245 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15246 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15247 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15250 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15251 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15253 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15254 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15255 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15256 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15257 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15259 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15260 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15261 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15262 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15263 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15264 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15265 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15266 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15269 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15270 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15271 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15272 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15277 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15278 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15279 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15280 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15281 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15282 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15283 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15284 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15285 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15286 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15287 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15288 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15289 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15294 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15295 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15296 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15297 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15298 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15299 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15300 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15301 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15302 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15303 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15304 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15305 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15306 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15307 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15309 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15310 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15315 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15316 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15317 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15318 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15319 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15320 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15321 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15322 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15323 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15324 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15325 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15326 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15327 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15328 provided by the active file and overviews.
15330 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15331 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15332 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15333 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15334 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15337 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15338 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15343 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15344 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15345 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15346 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15347 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15348 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15349 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15353 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15354 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15355 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15356 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15357 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15358 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15359 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15360 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15361 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15363 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15364 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15365 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15366 friendly mail back end all over.
15370 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15371 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15374 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15375 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15376 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15377 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15378 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15379 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15380 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15381 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15384 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15385 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15386 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15387 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15388 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15389 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15390 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15391 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15392 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15393 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15394 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15396 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15397 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15398 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15399 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15400 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15403 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15404 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15405 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15406 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15407 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15408 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15409 removed in the future.
15411 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15412 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15413 on your file system.
15415 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15416 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15421 @node Browsing the Web
15422 @section Browsing the Web
15424 @cindex browsing the web
15428 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15429 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15430 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15431 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15432 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15433 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15434 even know what a news group is.
15436 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15437 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15438 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15439 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15440 you mad in the end.
15442 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15445 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15446 interfaces to these sources.
15450 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15451 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15452 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15453 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15454 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15455 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15458 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15460 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15461 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15462 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15463 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15464 though, you should be ok.
15466 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15467 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15468 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15469 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15470 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15472 @node Archiving Mail
15473 @subsection Archiving Mail
15474 @cindex archiving mail
15475 @cindex backup of mail
15477 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15478 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15479 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15480 marks is fairly simple.
15482 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15483 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15486 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15487 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15488 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15489 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15490 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15491 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15492 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15493 before you restore the data.
15495 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15496 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15497 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15498 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15499 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15500 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15501 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15502 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15503 is unnecessary in that case.
15506 @subsection Web Searches
15511 @cindex Usenet searches
15512 @cindex searching the Usenet
15514 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15515 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15516 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15517 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15518 searches without having to use a browser.
15520 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15521 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15522 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15523 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15524 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15526 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15527 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15528 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15529 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15530 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15531 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15532 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15533 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15534 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15535 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15538 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15539 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15540 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15541 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15542 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15543 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15545 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15546 to use @code{nnweb}.
15548 Virtual server variables:
15553 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15554 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15555 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15558 @vindex nnweb-search
15559 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15561 @item nnweb-max-hits
15562 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15563 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15566 @item nnweb-type-definition
15567 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15568 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15569 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15574 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15578 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15581 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15584 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15588 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15595 @subsection Slashdot
15599 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15600 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15601 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15603 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15604 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15607 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15608 '((nnslashdot "")))
15611 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15612 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15613 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15614 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15615 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15618 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15619 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15621 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15622 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15623 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15624 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15625 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15626 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15627 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15629 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15632 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15633 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15634 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15635 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15636 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15637 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15638 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15640 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15641 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15642 The login name to use when posting.
15644 @item nnslashdot-password
15645 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15646 The password to use when posting.
15648 @item nnslashdot-directory
15649 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15650 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15651 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15653 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15654 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15655 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15656 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15657 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15659 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15660 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15661 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15663 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15664 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15665 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15666 article. The default is
15667 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15669 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15670 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15671 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15673 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15674 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15675 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15676 updated. The default is 0.
15683 @subsection Ultimate
15685 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15687 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15688 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15689 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15690 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15692 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15693 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15694 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15695 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15696 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15697 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15698 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15700 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15703 @item nnultimate-directory
15704 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15705 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15706 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15711 @subsection Web Archive
15713 @cindex Web Archive
15715 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15716 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15717 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15718 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15721 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15722 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15723 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15724 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15725 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15726 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15727 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15728 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15730 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15733 @item nnwarchive-directory
15734 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15735 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15736 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15738 @item nnwarchive-login
15739 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15740 The account name on the web server.
15742 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15743 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15744 The password for your account on the web server.
15752 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15753 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15754 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15755 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15756 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15758 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15759 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15761 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15762 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15764 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15765 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15766 subscribe to groups.
15768 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15771 @item nnrss-directory
15772 @vindex nnrss-directory
15773 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15774 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15776 @item nnrss-use-local
15777 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15778 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15779 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15780 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15781 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15782 download script using @command{wget}.
15785 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15786 the summary buffer.
15789 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15790 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15792 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15794 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15795 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15798 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15801 (require 'browse-url)
15803 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15805 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15808 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15809 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15812 (browse-url (cdr url))
15813 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15814 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15816 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15817 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15818 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15819 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15822 @node Customizing w3
15823 @subsection Customizing w3
15829 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15830 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15831 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15833 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15834 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15835 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15838 (eval-after-load "w3"
15840 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15841 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15842 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15843 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15845 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15848 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15849 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15856 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15858 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15859 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15860 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15861 specify the network address of the server.
15863 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15864 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15865 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15866 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15867 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15868 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15870 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15871 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15872 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15873 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15875 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15876 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15877 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15878 usage explained in this section.
15880 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15881 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15882 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15886 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15887 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15888 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15890 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15891 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15892 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15894 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15895 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15896 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15897 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15898 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15899 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15900 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15901 (nnimap-stream network))
15902 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15904 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15905 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15906 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15909 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15910 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15911 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15912 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15914 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15919 @item nnimap-address
15920 @vindex nnimap-address
15922 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15923 server name if not specified.
15925 @item nnimap-server-port
15926 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15927 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15929 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15932 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15933 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15936 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15937 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15938 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15939 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15940 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15941 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15942 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15944 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15945 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15946 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15949 Example server specification:
15952 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15953 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15954 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15957 @item nnimap-stream
15958 @vindex nnimap-stream
15959 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15960 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15961 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
15962 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
15963 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15965 Example server specification:
15968 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15969 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15972 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15976 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15977 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15979 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15981 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15982 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15985 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15986 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15988 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15989 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15991 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
15993 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15996 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15997 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15998 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15999 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16000 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16001 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16002 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16003 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16004 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16007 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16008 needed. It is available from
16009 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16011 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16012 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16013 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16014 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16015 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16016 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16017 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16020 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16021 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16022 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16023 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16024 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16025 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16026 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16029 @vindex imap-shell-program
16030 @vindex imap-shell-host
16031 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16032 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16034 @item nnimap-authenticator
16035 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16037 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16038 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16040 Example server specification:
16043 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16044 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16047 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16051 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16052 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16054 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16057 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16058 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16060 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16062 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16064 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16067 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16069 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16070 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16071 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16072 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16073 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16074 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16077 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16078 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16079 running in circles yet?
16081 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16082 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16085 The possible options are:
16090 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16093 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16094 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16095 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16096 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16098 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16103 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16104 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16106 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16107 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16108 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16109 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16110 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16113 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16114 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16117 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16118 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16119 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16120 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16123 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16124 as ticked for other users.
16126 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16128 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16130 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16131 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16132 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16133 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16135 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16136 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16137 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16138 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16140 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16141 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16143 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16144 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16145 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16148 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16149 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16151 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16152 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16158 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16159 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16160 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16161 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16162 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16163 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16168 @node Splitting in IMAP
16169 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16170 @cindex splitting imap mail
16172 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16173 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16174 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16175 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16176 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16180 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16181 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16182 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16184 Here are the variables of interest:
16188 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16189 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16191 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16193 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16194 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16195 found will be used.
16197 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16199 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16200 @cindex splitting, inbox
16202 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16204 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16205 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16206 splitting is disabled!
16209 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16210 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16213 No nnmail equivalent.
16215 @item nnimap-split-rule
16216 @cindex splitting, rules
16217 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16219 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16222 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16223 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16224 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16225 Neither did I, we need examples.
16228 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16230 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16231 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16232 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16235 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16236 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16237 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16239 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16240 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16244 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16247 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16248 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16250 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16251 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16252 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16253 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16255 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16256 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16257 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16258 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16259 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16260 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16262 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16263 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16264 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16266 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16267 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16268 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16270 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16272 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16273 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16274 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16277 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16278 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16279 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16280 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16281 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16282 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16285 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16286 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16287 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16288 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16289 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16290 group/function elements.
16292 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16294 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16296 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16298 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16299 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16301 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16302 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16303 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16306 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16307 @cindex splitting, fancy
16308 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16309 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16311 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16312 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16313 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16315 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16316 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16317 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16318 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16323 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16324 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16327 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16329 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16330 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16331 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16333 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16334 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16335 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16336 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16340 @node Expiring in IMAP
16341 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16342 @cindex expiring imap mail
16344 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16345 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16346 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16347 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16348 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16349 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16352 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16353 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16354 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16355 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16356 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16357 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16358 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16359 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16363 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16364 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16366 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16367 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16369 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16371 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16372 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16373 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16374 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16378 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16379 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16380 @cindex editing imap acls
16381 @cindex Access Control Lists
16382 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16383 @kindex G l (Group)
16384 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16386 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16387 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16388 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16391 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16392 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16393 editing window with detailed instructions.
16395 Some possible uses:
16399 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16400 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16401 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16403 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16404 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16405 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16409 @node Expunging mailboxes
16410 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16414 @cindex manual expunging
16415 @kindex G x (Group)
16416 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16418 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16419 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16420 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16422 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16425 @node A note on namespaces
16426 @subsection A note on namespaces
16427 @cindex IMAP namespace
16430 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16431 by the following text in the RFC:
16434 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16436 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16437 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16438 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16439 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16441 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16442 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16443 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16444 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16445 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16446 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16449 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16450 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16451 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16453 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16454 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16455 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16456 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16457 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16458 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16459 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16460 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16463 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16464 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16465 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16467 @node Debugging IMAP
16468 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16469 @cindex IMAP debugging
16470 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16472 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16473 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16474 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16475 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16477 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16478 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16479 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16480 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16481 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16482 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16483 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16487 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16488 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16495 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16496 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16497 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16498 @code{BAD} - but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16501 @node Other Sources
16502 @section Other Sources
16504 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16505 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16509 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16510 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16511 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16512 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16513 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16517 @node Directory Groups
16518 @subsection Directory Groups
16520 @cindex directory groups
16522 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16523 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16526 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16527 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16528 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16529 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16531 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16532 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16533 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16534 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16535 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16537 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16539 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16540 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16541 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16542 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16545 @node Anything Groups
16546 @subsection Anything Groups
16549 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16550 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16551 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16554 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16555 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16556 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16557 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16558 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16559 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16560 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16561 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16562 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16563 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16566 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16567 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16568 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16569 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16571 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16572 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16573 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16574 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16576 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16577 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16578 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16579 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16580 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16581 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16582 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16583 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16588 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16589 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16590 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16591 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16593 @item nneething-exclude-files
16594 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16595 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16596 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16598 @item nneething-include-files
16599 @vindex nneething-include-files
16600 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16601 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16603 @item nneething-map-file
16604 @vindex nneething-map-file
16605 Name of the map files.
16609 @node Document Groups
16610 @subsection Document Groups
16612 @cindex documentation group
16615 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16616 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16623 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16628 The standard Unix mbox file.
16630 @cindex MMDF mail box
16632 The MMDF mail box format.
16635 Several news articles appended into a file.
16638 @cindex rnews batch files
16639 The rnews batch transport format.
16640 @cindex forwarded messages
16643 Forwarded articles.
16646 Netscape mail boxes.
16649 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16651 @item standard-digest
16652 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16655 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16657 @item lanl-gov-announce
16658 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16660 @item rfc822-forward
16661 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16664 The Outlook mail box.
16667 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16670 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16673 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16676 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16682 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16685 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16691 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16692 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16693 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16696 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16697 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16698 group. And that's it.
16700 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16701 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16702 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16703 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16704 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16705 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16706 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16707 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16708 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16709 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16711 Virtual server variables:
16714 @item nndoc-article-type
16715 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16716 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16717 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16718 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16719 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16720 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16722 @item nndoc-post-type
16723 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16724 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16725 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16730 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16734 @node Document Server Internals
16735 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16737 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16738 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16739 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16740 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16742 First, here's an example document type definition:
16746 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16747 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16750 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16751 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16752 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16753 types can be defined with very few settings:
16756 @item first-article
16757 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16758 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16761 @item article-begin
16762 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16763 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16765 @item head-begin-function
16766 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16769 @item nndoc-head-begin
16770 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16773 @item nndoc-head-end
16774 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16775 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16777 @item body-begin-function
16778 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16782 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16785 @item body-end-function
16786 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16790 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16793 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16794 regexp will be totally ignored.
16798 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16799 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16800 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16801 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16802 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16805 @item prepare-body-function
16806 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16807 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16808 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16810 @item article-transform-function
16811 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16812 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16813 body of the article.
16815 @item generate-head-function
16816 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16817 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16818 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16819 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16823 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16828 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16829 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16830 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16831 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16832 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16833 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16834 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16835 (subtype digest guess))
16838 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16839 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16840 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16841 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16842 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16844 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16845 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16846 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16847 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16848 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16849 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16850 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16851 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16852 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16853 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16854 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16855 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16863 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16864 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16865 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16867 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16868 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16869 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16872 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16873 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16874 that interested in doing things properly.
16876 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16877 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16880 First some terminology:
16885 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16886 get news and/or mail from.
16889 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16890 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16893 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16897 @item message packets
16898 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16899 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16900 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16902 @item response packets
16903 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16904 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16905 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16915 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16916 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16917 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16918 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16921 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16924 You put the packet in your home directory.
16927 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16928 the native or secondary server.
16931 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16932 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16935 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16939 You transfer this packet to the server.
16942 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16945 You then repeat until you die.
16949 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16950 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16953 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16954 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16955 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16959 @node SOUP Commands
16960 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16962 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16966 @kindex G s b (Group)
16967 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16968 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16969 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16970 process/prefix convention.
16973 @kindex G s w (Group)
16974 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16975 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16978 @kindex G s s (Group)
16979 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16980 Send all replies from the replies packet
16981 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16984 @kindex G s p (Group)
16985 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16986 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16989 @kindex G s r (Group)
16990 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16991 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16994 @kindex O s (Summary)
16995 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16996 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16997 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16998 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17003 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17008 @item gnus-soup-directory
17009 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17010 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17011 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17013 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17014 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17015 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17016 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17018 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17019 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17020 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17021 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17023 @item gnus-soup-packer
17024 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17025 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17026 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17028 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17029 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17030 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17031 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17033 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17034 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17035 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17037 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17038 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17039 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17040 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17046 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17049 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17050 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17051 you can read them at leisure.
17053 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17057 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17058 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17059 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17060 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17062 @item nnsoup-directory
17063 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17064 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17065 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17067 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17068 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17069 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17070 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17072 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17073 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17074 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17075 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17076 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17078 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17079 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17080 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17081 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17083 @item nnsoup-active-file
17084 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17085 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17086 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17087 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17088 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17090 @item nnsoup-packer
17091 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17092 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17093 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17095 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17096 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17097 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17098 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17100 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17101 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17102 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17105 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17106 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17107 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17110 @item nnsoup-always-save
17111 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17112 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17118 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17120 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17121 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17122 more for that to happen.
17124 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17125 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17126 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17129 In specific, this is what it does:
17132 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17133 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17136 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17137 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17138 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17141 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17142 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17143 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17146 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17147 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17148 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17150 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17156 @item nngateway-address
17157 @vindex nngateway-address
17158 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17160 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17161 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17162 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17163 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17164 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17165 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17166 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17169 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17170 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17171 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17174 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17177 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17180 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17183 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17185 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17188 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17189 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17190 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17192 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17194 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17195 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17196 @code{nngateway-address}.
17204 (setq gnus-post-method
17206 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17207 (nngateway-header-transformation
17208 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17211 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17214 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17219 @node Combined Groups
17220 @section Combined Groups
17222 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17226 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17227 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17231 @node Virtual Groups
17232 @subsection Virtual Groups
17234 @cindex virtual groups
17235 @cindex merging groups
17237 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17240 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17241 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17242 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17244 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17245 regexp to match component groups.
17247 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17248 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17249 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17250 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17251 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17252 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17253 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17254 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17256 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17257 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17260 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17263 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17264 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17266 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17267 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17268 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17269 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17272 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17275 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17276 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17277 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17279 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17280 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17281 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17282 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17283 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17285 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17286 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17287 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17289 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17290 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17291 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17292 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17293 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17294 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17295 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17296 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17297 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17298 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17299 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17301 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17302 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17303 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17304 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17305 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17306 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17307 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17309 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17310 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17312 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17313 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17317 @node Kibozed Groups
17318 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17322 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17323 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17324 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17325 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17327 @kindex G k (Group)
17328 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17331 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17332 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17333 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17334 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17336 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17337 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17338 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17340 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17341 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17342 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17343 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17344 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17345 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17346 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17347 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17349 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17350 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17351 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17352 Stranger things have happened.
17354 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17355 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17357 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17358 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17359 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17360 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17361 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17362 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17363 component articles.
17365 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17366 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17369 @node Gnus Unplugged
17370 @section Gnus Unplugged
17375 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17377 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17378 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17379 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17380 read news. Believe it or not.
17382 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17383 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17384 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17385 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17386 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17388 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17389 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17390 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17391 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17392 reading news on a machine.
17394 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17395 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17397 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17400 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17401 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17402 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17403 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17404 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17405 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17406 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17407 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17408 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17409 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17410 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17411 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17412 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17417 @subsection Agent Basics
17419 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17421 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17422 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17423 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17424 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17426 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17427 connected to the net continuously.
17429 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17430 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17432 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17433 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17434 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17435 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17436 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17438 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17439 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17440 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17441 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17442 they're kinda like plugged always).
17444 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17445 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17446 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17449 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17450 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17451 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17452 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17453 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17455 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17460 @findex gnus-unplugged
17461 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17462 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17463 already fetched while in this mode.
17466 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17467 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17468 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17469 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17470 Source Specifiers}).
17473 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17474 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17475 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17476 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17477 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17480 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17481 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17482 then you read the news offline.
17485 And then you go to step 2.
17488 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17494 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17495 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17496 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17497 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17498 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17499 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17500 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17501 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17504 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17505 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17506 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17507 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17509 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17510 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17511 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17512 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17513 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17514 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17518 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17522 @node Agent Categories
17523 @subsection Agent Categories
17525 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17526 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17527 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17528 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17529 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17530 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17531 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17533 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17534 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17535 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17536 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17537 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17539 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17540 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17541 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17542 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17543 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17546 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17547 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17548 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17549 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17550 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17551 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17555 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17556 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17557 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17561 @node Category Syntax
17562 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17564 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17565 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17566 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17569 @cindex Agent Parameters
17571 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17572 The name of the category.
17574 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17575 The list of groups that are in this category.
17577 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17578 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17579 are eligible for downloading; and
17581 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17582 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17583 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17584 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17586 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17587 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17588 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17589 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17590 only groups that should not be expired.
17592 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17593 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17594 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17596 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17597 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17599 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17600 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17602 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17603 an integer that overrides the value of
17604 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17606 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17607 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17609 @item gnus-agent-cat-disable-undownloaded-faces
17610 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should @emph{not} display
17611 undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17612 faces. The symbol nil will enable the use of undownloaded faces while
17613 all other symbols disable them.
17616 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17619 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17620 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17621 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17624 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17625 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17626 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17627 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17629 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17630 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17631 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17633 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17634 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17635 operators sprinkled in between.
17637 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17639 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17640 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17646 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17647 short (for some value of ``short'').
17649 Here's a more complex predicate:
17658 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17659 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17662 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17663 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17664 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17666 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17667 you want to do, you can write your own.
17669 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17670 bound to the value determined by calling
17671 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17672 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17673 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17674 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17675 predicate to individual groups.
17679 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17680 lines; default 100.
17683 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17684 lines; default 200.
17687 True iff the article has a download score less than
17688 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17691 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17692 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17695 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17696 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17697 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17706 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17707 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17708 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17711 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17712 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17713 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17714 something along the lines of the following:
17717 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17718 "Say whether an article is old."
17719 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17720 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17723 with the predicate then defined as:
17726 (not my-article-old-p)
17729 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17730 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17734 (require 'gnus-agent)
17735 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17736 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17737 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17740 and simply specify your predicate as:
17746 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17747 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17748 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17749 just don't give a damn.
17751 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17752 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17753 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17754 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17755 parameters like so:
17758 (agent-predicate . short)
17761 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17762 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17763 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17765 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17768 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17771 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17772 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17773 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17776 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17777 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17778 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17779 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17780 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17781 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17783 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17784 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17785 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17786 if it's to be specific to that group.
17788 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17795 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17796 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17802 Category specification
17806 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17812 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17815 (agent-score ("from"
17816 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17821 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17827 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17828 keywords stated above.
17834 Category specification
17837 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17843 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17847 Group Parameter specification
17850 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17853 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17858 Use @code{normal} score files
17860 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17861 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17862 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17863 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17865 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17866 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17867 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17868 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17872 Category Specification
17879 Group Parameter specification
17882 (agent-score . file)
17887 @node Category Buffer
17888 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17890 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17891 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17892 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17894 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17898 @kindex q (Category)
17899 @findex gnus-category-exit
17900 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17903 @kindex e (Category)
17904 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17905 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17906 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17909 @kindex k (Category)
17910 @findex gnus-category-kill
17911 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17914 @kindex c (Category)
17915 @findex gnus-category-copy
17916 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17919 @kindex a (Category)
17920 @findex gnus-category-add
17921 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17924 @kindex p (Category)
17925 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17926 Edit the predicate of the current category
17927 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17930 @kindex g (Category)
17931 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17932 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17933 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17936 @kindex s (Category)
17937 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17938 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17939 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17942 @kindex l (Category)
17943 @findex gnus-category-list
17944 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17948 @node Category Variables
17949 @subsubsection Category Variables
17952 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17953 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17954 Hook run in category buffers.
17956 @item gnus-category-line-format
17957 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17958 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17959 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17963 The name of the category.
17966 The number of groups in the category.
17969 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17970 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17971 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17973 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17974 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17975 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17977 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17978 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17979 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17981 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17982 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17983 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17986 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17987 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17988 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17991 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17992 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17993 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17994 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17995 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17996 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17997 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17998 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18002 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18003 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18004 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18005 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18006 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18007 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18008 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18013 @node Agent Commands
18014 @subsection Agent Commands
18015 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18016 @kindex J j (Agent)
18018 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18019 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18020 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18024 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18025 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18026 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18032 @node Group Agent Commands
18033 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18037 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18038 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18039 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18040 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18043 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18044 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18045 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18048 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18049 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18050 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18051 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18054 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18055 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18056 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18057 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18060 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18061 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18062 Add the current group to an Agent category
18063 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18064 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18067 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18068 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18069 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18070 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18071 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18074 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18075 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18076 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18082 @node Summary Agent Commands
18083 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18087 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18088 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18089 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18092 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18093 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18094 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18095 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18099 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18100 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18101 Toggle whether to download the article
18102 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18106 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18107 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18108 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18111 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18112 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18113 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18114 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18117 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18118 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18119 Download all processable articles in this group.
18120 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18123 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18124 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18125 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18126 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18131 @node Server Agent Commands
18132 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18136 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18137 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18138 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18139 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18142 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18143 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18144 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18145 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18150 @node Agent Visuals
18151 @subsection Agent Visuals
18153 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18154 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18155 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18156 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18157 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18158 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18159 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18160 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18161 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18162 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18164 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18165 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18166 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18167 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18168 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18169 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18170 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18171 articles will be available when unplugged.
18173 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18174 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18175 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18176 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18177 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18178 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18179 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18180 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18182 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18183 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18184 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18185 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18186 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18187 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18188 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18189 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18190 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18192 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18193 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18194 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18195 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18196 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18198 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18199 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18200 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18201 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18202 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18203 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18204 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18205 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18206 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18207 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18208 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18209 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18210 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18212 @node Agent as Cache
18213 @subsection Agent as Cache
18215 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18216 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18217 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18218 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18219 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18220 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18221 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18222 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18223 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18225 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18226 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18227 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18228 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18229 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18232 @subsection Agent Expiry
18234 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18235 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18236 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18237 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18238 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18239 @cindex agent expiry
18240 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18243 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18244 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18245 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18246 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18247 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18248 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18249 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18250 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18252 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18253 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18254 synchronized with the group.
18256 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18257 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18259 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18260 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18261 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18262 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18263 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18264 be kept indefinitely.
18266 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18267 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18268 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18269 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18271 @node Agent Regeneration
18272 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18274 @cindex agent regeneration
18275 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18276 @cindex regeneration
18278 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18279 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18280 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18281 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18282 internal inconsistencies.
18284 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18285 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18286 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18287 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18288 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18289 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18291 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18292 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18293 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18294 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18295 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18296 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18298 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18299 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18300 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18301 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18302 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18303 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18306 @node Agent and IMAP
18307 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18309 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18310 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18311 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18312 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18314 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18315 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18316 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18317 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18319 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18320 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18321 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18322 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18324 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18325 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18326 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18327 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18328 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18329 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18331 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18332 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18333 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18334 in the group buffer.
18336 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18337 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18342 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18345 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18349 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18350 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18351 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18352 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18353 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18354 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18355 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18356 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18359 @node Outgoing Messages
18360 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18362 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18363 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18364 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18366 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18367 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18368 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18369 messages in the draft group.
18373 @node Agent Variables
18374 @subsection Agent Variables
18377 @item gnus-agent-directory
18378 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18379 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18380 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18382 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18383 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18384 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18385 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18386 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18389 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18390 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18391 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18393 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18394 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18395 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18397 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18398 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18399 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18401 @item gnus-agent-cache
18402 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18403 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18404 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18405 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18407 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18408 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18409 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18410 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18411 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18412 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18413 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18416 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18417 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18418 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18419 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18420 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18421 read. The default is t.
18423 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18424 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18425 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18426 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18427 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18428 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18429 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18430 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18431 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18432 over and over again.
18434 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18435 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18436 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18437 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18438 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18439 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18440 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18441 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18442 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18443 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18444 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18445 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18448 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18449 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18450 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18451 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18452 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18453 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18454 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18455 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18456 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18458 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18459 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18460 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18461 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18462 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18463 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18465 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18466 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18467 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18468 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18469 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18474 @node Example Setup
18475 @subsection Example Setup
18477 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18478 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18479 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18482 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18483 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18484 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18486 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18487 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18488 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18490 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18491 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18493 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18494 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18495 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18498 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18499 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18502 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18503 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18504 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18505 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18506 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18509 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18510 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18511 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18512 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18513 back all the killed groups.)
18515 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18516 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18517 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18520 @node Batching Agents
18521 @subsection Batching Agents
18522 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18524 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18525 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18526 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18528 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18529 following incantation:
18533 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18537 @node Agent Caveats
18538 @subsection Agent Caveats
18540 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18541 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18545 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18547 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18548 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18549 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18551 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18552 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18554 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18558 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18559 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18560 locally stored articles.
18567 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18568 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18569 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18572 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18573 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18574 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18575 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18576 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18578 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18579 before generating the summary buffer.
18581 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18582 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18583 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18585 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18586 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18587 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18588 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18591 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18592 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18593 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18594 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18595 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18596 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18597 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18598 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18599 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18600 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18601 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18602 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18603 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18604 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18605 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18606 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18607 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18611 @node Summary Score Commands
18612 @section Summary Score Commands
18613 @cindex score commands
18615 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18616 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18617 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18618 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18619 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18621 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18622 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18623 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18624 score file the current one.
18626 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18631 @kindex V s (Summary)
18632 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18633 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18636 @kindex V S (Summary)
18637 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18638 Display the score of the current article
18639 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18642 @kindex V t (Summary)
18643 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18644 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18645 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18646 can use @kbd{q} to quit. @kbd{e} edits the corresponding score file.
18647 When point is on a string within the match element, @kbd{e} will try to
18648 bring you to this string in the score file.
18651 @kindex V w (Summary)
18652 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18653 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18656 @kindex V R (Summary)
18657 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18658 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18659 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18660 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18661 effect you're having.
18664 @kindex V c (Summary)
18665 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18666 Make a different score file the current
18667 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18670 @kindex V e (Summary)
18671 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18672 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18673 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18677 @kindex V f (Summary)
18678 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18679 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18680 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18683 @kindex V F (Summary)
18684 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18685 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18686 after editing score files.
18689 @kindex V C (Summary)
18690 @findex gnus-score-customize
18691 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18692 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18696 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18701 @kindex V m (Summary)
18702 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18703 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18704 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18707 @kindex V x (Summary)
18708 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18709 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18710 expunge all articles below this score
18711 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18714 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18715 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18718 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18719 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18723 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18724 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18726 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18727 keys are available:
18731 Score on the author name.
18734 Score on the subject line.
18737 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18740 Score on the @code{References} line.
18746 Score on the number of lines.
18749 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18752 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18753 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18756 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18757 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18758 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18767 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18773 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18774 what headers you are scoring on.
18786 Substring matching.
18789 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18818 Greater than number.
18823 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18824 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18825 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18830 Temporary score entry.
18833 Permanent score entry.
18836 Immediately scoring.
18840 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18841 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18842 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18846 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18847 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18848 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18849 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18851 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18852 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18853 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18854 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18855 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18857 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18858 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18859 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18860 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18861 current score file.
18863 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18864 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18865 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18868 @node Group Score Commands
18869 @section Group Score Commands
18870 @cindex group score commands
18872 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18877 @kindex W f (Group)
18878 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18879 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18880 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18881 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18885 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18887 @findex gnus-batch-score
18888 @cindex batch scoring
18890 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18894 @node Score Variables
18895 @section Score Variables
18896 @cindex score variables
18900 @item gnus-use-scoring
18901 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18902 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18903 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18905 @item gnus-kill-killed
18906 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18907 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18908 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18909 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18910 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18911 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18912 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18914 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18915 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18916 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18917 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18918 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18920 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18921 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18922 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18923 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18925 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18926 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18927 @cindex score cache
18928 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18929 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18930 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18931 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18932 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18933 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18934 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18937 @item gnus-save-score
18938 @vindex gnus-save-score
18939 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18940 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18941 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18943 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18944 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18945 across group visits.
18947 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18948 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18949 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18950 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18951 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18952 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18953 manually entered data.
18955 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18956 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18957 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18959 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18960 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18961 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18962 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18963 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18964 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18966 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18967 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18968 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18969 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18971 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18972 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18973 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18974 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18976 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18977 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18978 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18979 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18981 Predefined functions available are:
18984 @item gnus-score-find-single
18985 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18986 Only apply the group's own score file.
18988 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18989 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18990 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18991 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18992 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18993 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18994 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18995 then a regexp match is done.
18997 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18998 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19000 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19001 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19002 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19003 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19005 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19006 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19007 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19008 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19009 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19013 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19014 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19015 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19016 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19017 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19018 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19019 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19022 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19023 overall score file, you could use the value
19025 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19026 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19029 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19030 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19031 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19032 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19033 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19035 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19036 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19037 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19038 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19039 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19040 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19041 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19042 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19044 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19045 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19046 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19048 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19049 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19050 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19051 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19052 threading---according to the current value of
19053 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19054 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19055 simplified in this manner.
19060 @node Score File Format
19061 @section Score File Format
19062 @cindex score file format
19064 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19065 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19066 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19068 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19072 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19074 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19076 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19078 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19083 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19087 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19088 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19089 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19090 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19094 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19095 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19097 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19098 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19099 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19101 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19106 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19107 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19108 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19109 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19110 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19111 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19112 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19113 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19114 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19115 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19116 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19117 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19118 to articles that matches these score entries.
19120 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19121 score entry has one to four elements.
19125 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19126 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19130 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19131 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19132 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19133 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19134 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19135 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19138 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19139 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19140 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19141 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19142 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19145 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19146 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19147 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19148 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19151 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19152 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19153 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19154 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19155 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19156 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19157 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19158 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19159 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19160 instead, if you feel like.
19163 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19164 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19165 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19166 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19167 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19168 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19172 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19173 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19177 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19178 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19180 These predicates are true if
19183 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19186 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19187 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19194 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19195 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19196 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19197 it's not. I think.)
19199 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19200 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19201 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19202 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19205 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19206 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19207 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19208 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19209 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19210 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19211 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19215 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19216 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19217 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19218 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19219 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19220 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19221 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19222 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19225 @item Head, Body, All
19226 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19230 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19231 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19232 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19233 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19234 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19235 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19236 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19240 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19241 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19242 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19243 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19244 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19245 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19246 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19247 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19248 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19249 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19250 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19254 @cindex score file atoms
19256 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19257 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19260 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19261 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19263 @item mark-and-expunge
19264 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19265 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19268 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19269 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19270 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19271 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19272 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19275 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19276 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19279 @item exclude-files
19280 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19281 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19285 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19286 ignored when handling global score files.
19289 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19290 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19291 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19292 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19295 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19296 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19297 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19298 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19300 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19304 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19307 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19308 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19309 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19310 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19311 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19313 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19314 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19315 scoring rules exist.
19318 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19319 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19320 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19321 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19322 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19323 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19324 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19325 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19326 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19327 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19328 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19332 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19333 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19334 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19335 file for a number of groups.
19338 @cindex local variables
19339 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19340 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19341 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19342 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19343 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19348 @node Score File Editing
19349 @section Score File Editing
19351 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19352 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19353 with a mode for that.
19355 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19356 additional commands:
19361 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19362 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19363 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19364 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19367 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19368 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19369 Insert the current date in numerical format
19370 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19371 you were wondering.
19374 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19375 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19376 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19377 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19378 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19383 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19385 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19386 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19388 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
19389 e} to begin editing score files.
19392 @node Adaptive Scoring
19393 @section Adaptive Scoring
19394 @cindex adaptive scoring
19396 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19397 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19398 stupidity, to be precise.
19400 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19401 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19402 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19403 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19404 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19405 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19406 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19407 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19408 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19410 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19411 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19412 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19413 might look something like this:
19416 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19417 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19418 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19419 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19420 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19421 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19422 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19423 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19424 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19425 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19426 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19427 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19430 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19431 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19432 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19433 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19434 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19435 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19438 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19439 will be applied to each article.
19441 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19442 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19443 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19444 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19446 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19447 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19448 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19449 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19451 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19452 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19453 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19454 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19456 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19457 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19458 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19459 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19460 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19461 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19463 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19464 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19465 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19467 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19468 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19469 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19471 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19472 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19473 let you use different rules in different groups.
19475 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19476 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19477 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19480 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19481 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19482 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19483 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19484 the length of the match is less than
19485 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19486 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19489 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19490 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19491 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19492 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19493 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19496 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19497 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19498 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19499 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19500 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19503 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19504 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19505 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19506 score with 30 points.
19508 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19509 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19510 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19511 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19512 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19514 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19515 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19516 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19517 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19518 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19520 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19521 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19522 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19523 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19525 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19526 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19527 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19528 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19530 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19531 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19532 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19533 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19534 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19536 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19537 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19538 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19540 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19541 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19542 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19543 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19546 @node Home Score File
19547 @section Home Score File
19549 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19550 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19551 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19552 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19554 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19555 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19556 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19558 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19559 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19564 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19568 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19569 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19573 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19577 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19578 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19581 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19582 be used as the home score file.
19585 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19588 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19593 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19596 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19597 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19600 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19601 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19603 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19605 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19606 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19609 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19610 Other functions include
19613 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19614 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19615 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19616 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19620 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19621 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19622 their own home score files:
19625 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19626 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19627 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19628 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19629 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19632 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19633 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19634 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19635 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19636 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19638 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19639 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19640 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19641 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19642 precedence over this variable.
19645 @node Followups To Yourself
19646 @section Followups To Yourself
19648 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19649 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19650 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19651 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19652 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19653 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19657 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19658 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19659 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19662 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19663 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19664 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19668 @vindex message-sent-hook
19669 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19670 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19672 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19676 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19677 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19681 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19682 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19685 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19686 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19691 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19695 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19696 is system-dependent.
19699 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19700 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19701 @cindex scoring on other headers
19703 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19704 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19705 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19706 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19707 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19709 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19710 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19711 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19712 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19713 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19715 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19718 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19719 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19722 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19723 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19724 time if you have much mail.
19726 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19727 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19733 @section Scoring Tips
19734 @cindex scoring tips
19740 @cindex scoring crossposts
19741 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19742 the @code{Xref} header.
19744 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19747 @item Multiple crossposts
19748 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19749 more than, say, 3 groups:
19752 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19756 @item Matching on the body
19757 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19758 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19759 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19760 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19761 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19762 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19763 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19766 @item Marking as read
19767 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19768 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19769 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19773 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19775 @item Negated character classes
19776 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19777 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19778 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19782 @node Reverse Scoring
19783 @section Reverse Scoring
19784 @cindex reverse scoring
19786 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19787 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19788 like this in your score file:
19792 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19797 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19798 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19801 @node Global Score Files
19802 @section Global Score Files
19803 @cindex global score files
19805 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19806 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19807 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19809 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19810 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19811 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19813 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19814 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19815 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19816 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19817 files are applicable to which group.
19819 To use the score file
19820 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19821 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19825 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19826 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19827 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19830 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19832 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19833 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19834 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19835 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19837 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19838 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19840 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19841 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19842 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19843 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19844 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19845 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19847 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19853 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19855 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19857 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19859 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19860 lowered out of existence.
19862 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19863 articles completely.
19866 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19867 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19868 old articles for a long time.
19871 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19872 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19873 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19874 holding our breath yet?
19878 @section Kill Files
19881 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19882 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19883 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19885 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19886 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19887 files into score files.
19889 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19890 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19891 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19892 that isn't a very good idea.
19894 Normal kill files look like this:
19897 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19898 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19902 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19903 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19905 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19906 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19909 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19914 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19915 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19916 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19919 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19920 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19921 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19924 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19929 @kindex M-k (Group)
19930 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19931 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19934 @kindex M-K (Group)
19935 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19936 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19939 Kill file variables:
19942 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19943 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19944 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19945 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19946 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19947 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19948 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19950 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19951 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19952 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19953 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19956 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19957 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19958 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19959 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19960 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19961 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19962 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19963 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19964 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19966 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19967 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19968 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19973 @node Converting Kill Files
19974 @section Converting Kill Files
19976 @cindex converting kill files
19978 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19979 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19980 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19983 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19984 You can fetch it from
19985 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19987 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19988 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19989 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19997 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19998 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
20000 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
20001 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
20002 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
20003 news articles generated every day.
20005 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
20006 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
20007 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
20008 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
20009 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
20010 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
20011 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
20012 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
20016 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
20017 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
20018 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
20019 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
20023 @node Using GroupLens
20024 @subsection Using GroupLens
20026 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
20027 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
20028 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
20030 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
20034 @item gnus-use-grouplens
20035 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
20036 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
20037 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
20039 @item grouplens-pseudonym
20040 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
20041 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
20042 with the Better Bit Bureau.
20044 @item grouplens-newsgroups
20045 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
20046 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
20050 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
20051 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
20052 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
20053 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
20054 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
20055 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
20058 @node Rating Articles
20059 @subsection Rating Articles
20061 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
20062 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
20063 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
20064 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
20067 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
20072 @kindex r (GroupLens)
20073 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
20074 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
20077 @kindex k (GroupLens)
20078 @findex grouplens-score-thread
20079 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
20080 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
20081 threads in rec.humor.
20085 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
20086 the score of the article you're reading.
20091 @kindex n (GroupLens)
20092 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
20093 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
20096 @kindex , (GroupLens)
20097 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
20098 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
20102 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
20103 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
20106 @node Displaying Predictions
20107 @subsection Displaying Predictions
20109 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
20110 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
20111 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
20112 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
20113 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
20115 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
20116 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
20117 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
20118 regular Gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
20119 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
20120 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
20121 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
20122 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
20123 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
20124 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
20125 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
20126 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
20127 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
20129 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
20130 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
20131 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
20132 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
20134 The following are valid values for that variable.
20137 @item prediction-spot
20138 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
20141 @item confidence-interval
20142 A numeric confidence interval.
20144 @item prediction-bar
20145 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
20147 @item confidence-bar
20148 Numerical confidence.
20150 @item confidence-spot
20151 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20153 @item prediction-num
20154 Plain-old numeric value.
20156 @item confidence-plus-minus
20157 Prediction +/- confidence.
20162 @node GroupLens Variables
20163 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20167 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20168 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20169 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20170 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20173 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20174 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20177 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20178 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20180 @item grouplens-score-offset
20181 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20182 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20185 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20186 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20187 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20192 @node Advanced Scoring
20193 @section Advanced Scoring
20195 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20196 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20197 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20198 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20199 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20201 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20205 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20206 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20207 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20211 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20212 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20214 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20215 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20216 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20217 non-@code{nil} value.
20219 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20220 operator, and various match operators.
20227 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20228 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20229 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20234 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20235 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20236 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20241 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20242 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20246 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20247 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20248 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20249 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20250 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20251 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20252 the ancestry you want to go.
20254 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20255 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20256 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20257 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20258 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20261 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20262 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20264 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20265 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20268 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20269 when he's talking about Gnus:
20274 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20275 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20282 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20286 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20293 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20294 really don't want to read what he's written:
20298 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20299 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20303 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20304 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20305 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20312 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20313 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20314 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20315 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20319 The possibilities are endless.
20322 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20323 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20325 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20326 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20327 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20328 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20329 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20330 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20331 @samp{subject}) first.
20333 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20334 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20345 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20346 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20352 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20359 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20360 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20365 @section Score Decays
20366 @cindex score decays
20369 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20370 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20371 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20372 use them in any sensible way.
20374 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20375 @findex gnus-decay-score
20376 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20377 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20378 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20379 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20380 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20381 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20382 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20383 definition of that function:
20386 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20387 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20388 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20390 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20392 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20394 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20395 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20396 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20397 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20398 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20400 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20404 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20405 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20406 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20407 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20411 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20414 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20417 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20421 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20422 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20423 the new score, which should be an integer.
20425 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20426 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20431 @include message.texi
20432 @chapter Emacs MIME
20433 @include emacs-mime.texi
20435 @include sieve.texi
20437 @c @include pgg.texi
20445 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20446 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20447 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20448 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20449 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20450 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20451 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20452 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20453 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20454 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20455 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20456 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20457 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20458 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20459 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20460 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20461 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20462 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20463 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20467 @node Process/Prefix
20468 @section Process/Prefix
20469 @cindex process/prefix convention
20471 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20472 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20474 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20475 command to be performed on.
20479 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20480 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20481 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20482 with the current one.
20484 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20485 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20486 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20488 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20489 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20492 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20493 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20495 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20498 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20499 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20500 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20501 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20503 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20504 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20505 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20506 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20507 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20508 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20509 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20510 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20512 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20513 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20514 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20515 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20516 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20520 @section Interactive
20521 @cindex interaction
20525 @item gnus-novice-user
20526 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20527 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20528 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20529 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20530 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20533 @item gnus-expert-user
20534 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20535 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20536 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20537 matter how strange.
20539 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20540 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20541 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20542 is @code{t} by default.
20544 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20545 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20546 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20551 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20552 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20553 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20555 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20556 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20557 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20558 rule of 900 to the current article.
20560 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20561 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20562 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20563 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20564 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20565 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20566 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20568 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20569 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20570 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20571 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20572 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20573 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20574 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20575 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20576 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20578 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20579 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20580 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20582 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20586 @node Formatting Variables
20587 @section Formatting Variables
20588 @cindex formatting variables
20590 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20591 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20592 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20593 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20594 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20597 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20598 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20599 lots of percentages everywhere.
20602 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20603 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20604 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20605 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20606 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20607 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20608 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20609 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20612 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20613 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20614 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20615 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20616 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20617 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20618 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20619 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20621 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20622 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20624 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20625 @findex gnus-update-format
20626 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20627 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20628 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20629 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20633 @node Formatting Basics
20634 @subsection Formatting Basics
20636 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20637 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20638 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20640 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20641 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20642 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20643 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20644 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20647 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20648 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20649 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20650 less than 4 characters wide.
20652 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20653 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20656 @node Mode Line Formatting
20657 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20659 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20660 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20661 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20662 with the following two differences:
20667 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20670 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20671 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20672 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20673 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20674 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20675 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20676 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20681 @node Advanced Formatting
20682 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20684 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20685 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20686 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20687 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20689 These are the valid modifiers:
20694 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20698 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20703 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20706 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20711 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20714 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20717 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20720 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20726 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20731 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20732 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20733 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20734 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20735 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20736 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20737 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20739 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20740 last operation, padding.
20742 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20743 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20744 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20745 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20746 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20747 the look of your lines.
20748 @xref{Compilation}.
20751 @node User-Defined Specs
20752 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20754 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20755 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20756 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20757 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20758 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20759 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20760 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20761 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20762 should protect against that.
20764 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20765 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20767 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20768 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20769 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20770 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20774 @node Formatting Fonts
20775 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20777 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20778 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20779 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20780 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20783 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20784 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20785 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20786 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20787 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20788 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20790 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20791 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20792 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20793 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20794 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20795 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20796 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20797 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20798 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20799 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20800 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20803 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20806 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20807 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20808 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20810 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20811 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20812 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20813 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20814 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20815 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20816 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20818 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20819 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20820 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20823 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20824 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20826 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20827 mode-line variables.
20829 @node Positioning Point
20830 @subsection Positioning Point
20832 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20833 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20834 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20836 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20838 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20839 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20840 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20842 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20843 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20844 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20849 @subsection Tabulation
20851 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20852 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20853 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20854 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20856 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20857 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20859 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20860 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20861 This is the soft tabulator.
20863 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20864 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20865 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20868 @node Wide Characters
20869 @subsection Wide Characters
20871 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20872 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20873 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20875 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20876 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20877 these countries, that's not true.
20879 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20880 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20881 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20882 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20886 @node Window Layout
20887 @section Window Layout
20888 @cindex window layout
20890 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20892 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20893 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20894 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20895 @code{t} by default.
20897 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20898 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20900 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20901 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20902 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20905 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20906 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20907 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20911 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20912 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20913 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20914 possible names is listed below.
20916 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20917 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20920 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20924 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20925 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20926 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20927 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20928 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20929 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20930 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20931 size spec per split.
20933 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20934 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20935 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20936 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20937 present) gets focus.
20939 Here's a more complicated example:
20942 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20943 (summary 0.25 point)
20944 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20948 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20949 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20950 occupy, not a percentage.
20952 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20953 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20954 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20955 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20956 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20959 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20962 (article (horizontal 1.0
20967 (summary 0.25 point)
20972 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20973 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20975 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20976 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20977 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20978 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20979 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20981 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20982 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20983 lines from the splits.
20985 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20990 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20991 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20992 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20993 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20994 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20995 size = number | frame-params
20996 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21000 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21001 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21002 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21003 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21005 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21006 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21007 @cindex window height
21008 @cindex window width
21009 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21010 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21011 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21012 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21013 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21014 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21016 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21017 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21018 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21019 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21021 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21022 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21023 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21024 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21025 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21026 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21027 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21028 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21029 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21030 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21031 configuration list.
21034 (gnus-configure-frame
21038 (article 0.3 point))
21046 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21047 @code{frame} split:
21050 (gnus-configure-frame
21053 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21055 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21056 (user-position . t)
21057 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21062 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21063 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21064 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21065 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21066 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21067 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21068 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21069 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21071 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21072 be found in its default value.
21074 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21075 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21076 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21080 (message (horizontal 1.0
21081 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21083 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21088 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21089 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21090 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21095 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21096 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21097 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21098 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21099 (name . "Message"))
21100 (message 1.0 point))))
21103 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21104 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21105 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21106 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21107 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21110 (gnus-add-configuration
21111 '(article (vertical 1.0
21113 (summary .25 point)
21117 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21118 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21119 Gnus has been loaded.
21121 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21122 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21123 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21124 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21125 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21127 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21128 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21129 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21132 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21136 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21137 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21152 (gnus-add-configuration
21155 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21157 (summary 0.16 point)
21160 (gnus-add-configuration
21163 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21164 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21170 @node Faces and Fonts
21171 @section Faces and Fonts
21176 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21177 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21178 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21183 @section Compilation
21184 @cindex compilation
21185 @cindex byte-compilation
21187 @findex gnus-compile
21189 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21190 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21191 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
21192 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
21193 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
21194 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21195 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21196 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21199 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21200 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21201 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21202 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
21203 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21206 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
21207 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
21208 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
21209 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
21210 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
21215 @section Mode Lines
21218 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21219 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21220 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21221 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21222 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21223 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21224 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21227 @cindex display-time
21229 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21230 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21231 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21232 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21233 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21234 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21235 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21236 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21239 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21241 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21242 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21244 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21245 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21246 (length display-time-string)))))
21249 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21250 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21251 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21252 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21253 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21256 @node Highlighting and Menus
21257 @section Highlighting and Menus
21259 @cindex highlighting
21262 @vindex gnus-visual
21263 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21264 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21265 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21268 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21269 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21272 @item group-highlight
21273 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21274 @item summary-highlight
21275 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21276 @item article-highlight
21277 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21279 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21281 Create menus in the group buffer.
21283 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21285 Create menus in the article buffer.
21287 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21289 Create menus in the server buffer.
21291 Create menus in the score buffers.
21293 Create menus in all buffers.
21296 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21297 buffers, you could say something like:
21300 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21303 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21306 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21309 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21310 in all Gnus buffers.
21312 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21315 @item gnus-mouse-face
21316 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21317 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21318 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21322 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21326 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21327 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21328 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21330 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21331 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21332 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21334 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21335 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21336 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21338 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21339 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21340 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21342 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21343 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21344 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21346 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21347 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21348 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21359 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21360 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21361 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21362 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21363 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21367 @vindex gnus-carpal
21368 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21369 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21370 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21375 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21376 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21377 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21379 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21380 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21381 Face used on buttons.
21383 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21384 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21385 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21387 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21388 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21389 Buttons in the group buffer.
21391 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21392 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21393 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21395 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21396 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21397 Buttons in the server buffer.
21399 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21400 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21401 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21404 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21405 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21406 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21414 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21415 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21416 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21417 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21418 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21420 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21421 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21422 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21424 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21425 been idle for thirty minutes:
21428 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21431 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21435 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21438 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21439 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21440 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21442 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21443 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21444 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21445 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21447 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21448 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21449 @var{idle} minutes.
21451 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21452 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21455 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21456 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21457 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21459 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21460 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21461 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21462 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21464 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21465 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21467 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21469 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21472 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21473 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21474 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21475 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21476 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21477 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21478 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21479 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21480 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21481 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21482 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21484 @findex gnus-demon-init
21485 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21486 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21487 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21488 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21489 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21491 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21492 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21493 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21502 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21503 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21505 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21506 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21507 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21508 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21511 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21512 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21513 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21514 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21516 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21517 this will make spam disappear.
21519 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21522 @item gnus-use-nocem
21523 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21524 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21527 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21528 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21529 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21532 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21533 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21536 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21537 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21538 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21539 people you want to listen to. The default is
21541 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21542 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21544 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21546 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21547 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21549 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21550 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21551 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21552 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21553 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21554 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21555 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21556 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21557 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21558 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21560 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21561 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21564 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21567 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21568 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21571 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21574 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21577 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21578 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21580 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21581 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21582 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21583 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21585 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21586 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21589 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21591 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21599 This might be dangerous, though.
21601 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21602 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21603 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21604 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21606 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21607 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21608 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21609 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21610 might then see old spam.
21612 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21613 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21614 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21615 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21616 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21619 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21620 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21621 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21622 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21626 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21627 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21628 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21629 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21636 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21637 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21638 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21640 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21641 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21642 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21643 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21644 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21645 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21646 @code{undo} function.
21648 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21649 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21650 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21651 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21652 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21653 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21654 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21655 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21656 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21657 never be totally undoable.
21659 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21660 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21662 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21663 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21664 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21665 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21669 @node Predicate Specifiers
21670 @section Predicate Specifiers
21671 @cindex predicate specifiers
21673 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21674 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21675 to type all that much.
21677 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21682 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21683 gnus-article-unread-p)
21686 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21687 functions all take one parameter.
21689 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21690 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21691 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21692 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21697 @section Moderation
21700 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21701 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21702 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21705 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21709 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21712 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21714 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21719 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21720 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21721 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21724 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21725 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21728 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21729 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21733 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21736 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21737 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21741 @node Image Enhancements
21742 @section Image Enhancements
21744 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21745 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21746 taken advantage of that.
21749 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21750 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21751 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21752 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21753 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21761 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21762 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21763 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21767 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21768 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21769 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21777 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21778 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21779 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21780 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21782 The variable that controls this is the
21783 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21784 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21785 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21786 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21787 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21789 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21790 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21791 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21792 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21795 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21796 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21797 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21798 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21799 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21800 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21801 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21802 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21804 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21807 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21808 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21810 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21811 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21812 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21813 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21814 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21815 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21816 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21817 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21818 header data as a string.
21820 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21821 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21822 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21823 randomly generated data.
21825 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21826 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21827 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21828 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21829 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21831 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21832 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21835 (setq message-required-news-headers
21836 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21837 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21840 Using the last function would be something like this:
21843 (setq message-required-news-headers
21844 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21845 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21846 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21847 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21855 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21857 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21858 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21859 represent the author of the message.
21862 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21863 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21864 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21867 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21868 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21870 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21871 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21872 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21874 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21875 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21876 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21877 converts the file to Face format by using the
21878 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21880 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21881 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21884 (setq message-required-news-headers
21885 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21886 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21887 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21892 @subsection Smileys
21897 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21902 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21903 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21905 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21906 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21909 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21912 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21913 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21914 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21915 text and maps that to file names.
21917 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21918 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21919 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21920 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21921 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21924 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21929 @item smiley-data-directory
21930 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21931 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21933 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21934 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21935 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21949 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21950 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21951 over your shoulder as you read news.
21953 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21962 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21963 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21964 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21965 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21966 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21967 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21968 @code{GIF} formats.
21971 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21972 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21973 point your Web browser at
21974 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21976 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21977 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21979 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21980 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21983 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21987 @item gnus-picon-databases
21988 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21989 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21990 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21991 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21992 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21994 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21995 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21996 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21997 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21999 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22000 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22001 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22002 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22004 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22005 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22006 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22007 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22008 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22010 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22011 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22012 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22013 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22019 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22022 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22023 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22024 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22025 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22026 unusual directory structure.
22028 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22029 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22030 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
22031 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
22033 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22034 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22035 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
22036 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
22037 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
22038 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
22040 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22041 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22042 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22047 @subsubsection Toolbar
22051 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22052 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22053 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
22054 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
22055 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
22057 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22058 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22059 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22061 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22062 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22063 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22065 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22066 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22067 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22078 @node Fuzzy Matching
22079 @section Fuzzy Matching
22080 @cindex fuzzy matching
22082 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22083 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22085 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22086 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22087 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22089 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22090 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22091 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22092 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22093 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22096 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22097 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22101 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22103 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22104 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22105 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22106 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22107 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22108 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22109 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22110 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22113 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22114 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22115 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22116 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22117 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22118 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22120 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22123 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22124 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22125 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22126 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22127 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22128 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22131 @node The problem of spam
22132 @subsection The problem of spam
22134 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22135 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22137 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22139 First, some background on spam.
22141 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22142 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
22143 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
22144 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
22145 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
22146 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
22147 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
22148 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22150 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22151 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22152 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22153 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22154 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22155 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22156 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22157 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22158 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22161 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
22162 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
22163 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
22164 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
22165 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
22166 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
22167 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
22168 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
22169 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
22170 mail can be useful.
22172 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22173 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22174 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22175 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22176 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into
22177 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the
22178 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
22179 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
22180 message is spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22182 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22183 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22184 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22185 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22186 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22187 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
22188 because of the incident.
22190 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22191 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22192 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22193 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22194 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22195 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22196 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22197 to store the database of spam analyses.
22199 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22200 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22204 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22206 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22207 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22209 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22210 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22211 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22212 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22213 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22214 part of the mail address.)
22217 (setq message-default-news-headers
22218 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22221 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22222 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22226 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22227 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22228 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22233 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22234 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22235 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22236 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22238 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22239 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22240 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22241 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22242 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22243 your fancy split rule in this way:
22248 (to "larsi" "misc")
22252 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22253 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22254 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22255 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22256 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22258 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22259 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22260 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22261 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22266 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22267 @cindex SpamAssassin
22268 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22271 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
22272 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22273 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22274 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22275 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22276 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22277 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22279 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22280 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22281 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22282 Specifiers}) follow.
22286 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22290 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22293 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22294 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22295 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22298 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22302 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22305 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22306 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22310 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22311 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22312 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22313 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22316 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22318 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22322 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22323 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22327 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22328 downloaded by default. You need to set
22329 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
22332 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22333 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22334 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22337 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22338 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22340 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22341 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22342 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22346 @subsection Hashcash
22349 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22350 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22351 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22352 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22353 in smaller communities.
22355 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22356 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22357 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22358 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22359 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22360 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
22361 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22362 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22363 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22364 one of them separately.
22367 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22368 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22369 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22370 header. For more details, and for the external application
22371 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22372 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22373 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22375 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22379 (require 'hashcash)
22380 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22383 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22384 contrib directory or at
22385 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22387 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22391 @item hashcash-default-payment
22392 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22393 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22394 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22395 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22397 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22398 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22399 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22400 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22401 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22402 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22403 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22404 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22405 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22409 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22413 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22414 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22415 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22416 a useful contribution, however.
22418 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22419 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22420 @cindex spam filtering
22423 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22424 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22425 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22426 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22429 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22430 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22431 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22432 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22433 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22436 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22440 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22442 You get the following keyboard commands:
22452 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22453 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22455 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22456 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22457 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22458 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22464 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22465 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22467 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22473 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22474 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22477 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22478 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22479 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22480 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22481 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22482 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22483 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22484 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22485 will be detected later.
22487 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22488 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22489 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22490 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22491 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22492 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22493 by customizing the corresponding variable
22494 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22495 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22496 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22497 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22498 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22499 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22500 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22503 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22505 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22506 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22507 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22508 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22509 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22510 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22511 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22512 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22513 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22514 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22515 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22516 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22517 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22519 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22520 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22521 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22522 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22523 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22524 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22525 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22526 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22529 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22530 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22531 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22535 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22536 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22540 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22541 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22542 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22543 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22544 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22545 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22548 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22549 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22550 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22551 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22552 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22553 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22554 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22555 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22556 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22557 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22558 newsgroup specification has the format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) in a
22559 standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually.
22560 The ultimate location is a group name. If the
22561 @code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set, ham articles are
22562 left in place. If the
22563 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22564 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22566 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22567 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22569 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22570 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22571 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22572 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22573 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22575 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22576 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22577 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22578 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22579 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22582 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22583 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22584 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22585 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22586 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22587 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22588 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22589 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
22590 the repeated format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) and they are all in a standard
22591 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. The
22592 ultimate location is a group name. If the
22593 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22594 articles are only expired.
22596 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22597 must add the following to your fancy split list
22598 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22604 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22605 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22606 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22608 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22609 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22610 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22611 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22612 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22613 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22614 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22615 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22616 actually give you the group
22617 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22618 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22620 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22621 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers} or @samp{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22624 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22625 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22628 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22629 (any "ding" "ding")
22635 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22636 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22637 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22638 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22639 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22640 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22642 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22643 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22644 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22647 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22648 ;;; all spam detected by spam-use-regex-headers goes to "regex-spam"
22649 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22650 (any "ding" "ding")
22651 ;;; all other spam detected by spam-split goes to spam-split-group
22657 Basically, this lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks
22658 depending on your particular needs, and to target the results of those
22659 checks to a particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail
22660 into all the spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that
22661 messages to mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have
22662 resource-intensive blackhole checks performed on them. You could also
22663 specify different spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap
22666 You still have to have specific checks such as
22667 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you specifically
22668 invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is that when
22669 loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on
22670 what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
22672 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22674 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22675 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22676 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22677 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22678 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22679 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22680 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22681 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22683 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22685 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22686 into a back end. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22687 longer spam or ham.}
22689 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22690 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22693 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22694 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22697 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22698 * BBDB Whitelists::
22699 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22700 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22702 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22704 * ifile spam filtering::
22705 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22707 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22710 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22711 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22712 @cindex spam filtering
22713 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22714 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22717 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22719 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22720 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22721 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22722 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22727 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22729 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22730 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22731 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22732 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22733 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22737 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22739 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22740 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22741 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22745 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22747 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22748 customizing the group parameters or the
22749 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22750 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22751 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22755 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22757 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22758 customizing the group parameters or the
22759 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22760 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22761 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22762 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22763 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22767 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22768 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22769 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22770 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22771 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22773 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22774 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22775 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22776 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22778 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22779 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22780 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22781 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22782 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22783 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22785 @node BBDB Whitelists
22786 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22787 @cindex spam filtering
22788 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22789 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22792 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22794 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22795 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22796 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22797 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22798 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22799 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22800 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22804 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22806 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22807 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22808 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22809 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22810 classified as spammers.
22814 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22816 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22817 customizing the group parameters or the
22818 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22819 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22820 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22821 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22822 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22826 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
22827 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
22828 @cindex spam reporting
22829 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22830 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22833 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
22835 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22836 customizing the group parameters or the
22837 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22838 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22839 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
22842 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
22846 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
22848 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
22849 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
22850 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
22851 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
22852 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
22857 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22858 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22859 @cindex spam filtering
22860 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
22863 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
22865 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22866 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
22867 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
22868 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
22869 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
22870 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
22871 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
22877 @subsubsection Blackholes
22878 @cindex spam filtering
22879 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22882 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22884 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22885 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22886 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22887 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22888 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22889 contains outdated servers.
22891 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22892 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22893 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
22894 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
22895 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
22896 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22900 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22902 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22906 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22908 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22909 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
22913 @defvar spam-use-dig
22915 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22916 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22920 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22921 ham processor for blackholes.
22923 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22924 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22925 @cindex spam filtering
22926 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22929 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22931 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22932 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22933 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22934 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22935 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22936 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22940 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22942 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22943 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22947 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22949 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22950 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22954 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22955 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22958 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22959 @cindex spam filtering
22960 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22963 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22965 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22968 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22969 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22970 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22971 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22972 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22973 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22975 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
22976 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
22979 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22980 processing will be turned off.
22982 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22986 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22988 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22989 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22990 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22991 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22992 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22993 installation documents for details.
22995 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22999 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23000 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23001 customizing the group parameters or the
23002 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23003 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23004 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23007 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23008 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23009 customizing the group parameters or the
23010 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23011 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23012 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23013 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23014 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23017 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23019 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23020 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23021 database directory.
23025 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23026 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23027 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23028 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23029 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23030 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23032 @node ifile spam filtering
23033 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23034 @cindex spam filtering
23035 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23038 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23040 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23041 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23045 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23047 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23048 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23049 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23053 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23055 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23056 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23057 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23060 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23062 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23063 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23067 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23068 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23069 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23070 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23073 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23074 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23075 @cindex spam filtering
23076 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23080 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23082 @defvar spam-use-stat
23084 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23085 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23089 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23090 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23091 customizing the group parameters or the
23092 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23093 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23094 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23097 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23098 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23099 customizing the group parameters or the
23100 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23101 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23102 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23103 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23104 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23107 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23108 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23109 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23110 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23111 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23114 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23115 @cindex spam filtering
23119 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23120 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23121 installed separately.
23123 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23124 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23125 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23126 mail as a spam mail or not.
23128 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23129 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23130 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23132 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23133 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23135 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23136 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23137 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23138 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23139 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23140 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23141 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23142 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23146 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23147 spam-split-group "Junk"
23148 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23149 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23150 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23153 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23154 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23158 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23159 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23160 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23164 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23165 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23166 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23167 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23168 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23169 database to live somewhere special, set
23170 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23173 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23174 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23175 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23176 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23177 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23178 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23179 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23180 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23181 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23182 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23184 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23185 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23186 customizing the group parameter or the
23187 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23188 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23189 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23192 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23193 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23194 customizing the group parameter or the
23195 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23196 to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23197 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23198 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23199 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23202 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of an group that has been
23203 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23206 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23208 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle)))
23210 For this group the @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle} is
23211 installed. If the group contains spam message (e.g. because SpamOracle
23212 has not had enough sample messages yet) and the user marks some
23213 messages as spam messages, these messages will be processed by
23214 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}. This processor sends
23215 the messages to SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23217 @node Extending the spam elisp package
23218 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
23219 @cindex spam filtering
23220 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23221 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23223 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23224 incoming mail, provide the following:
23232 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23233 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23238 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23240 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23245 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23246 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
23247 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
23249 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23250 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23251 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23255 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23262 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23263 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23266 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23267 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23268 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23270 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23271 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23272 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23280 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
23281 (spam-generic-register-routine
23282 ;; @r{the spam function}
23284 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23285 (when (stringp from)
23286 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
23287 ;; @r{the ham function}
23290 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
23291 (spam-generic-register-routine
23292 ;; @r{the spam function}
23294 ;; @r{the ham function}
23296 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23297 (when (stringp from)
23298 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
23301 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
23302 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
23303 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
23304 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
23305 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
23306 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
23311 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23312 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23313 @cindex Paul Graham
23314 @cindex Graham, Paul
23315 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23316 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23317 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23319 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23320 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23321 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23322 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23323 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23324 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23325 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23326 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23327 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23330 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23331 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23332 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23333 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23334 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23335 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23336 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23337 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23339 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23340 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23341 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23342 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23343 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23346 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23347 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23348 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23351 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23352 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23354 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23355 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23356 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23357 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23358 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23360 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23361 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23362 per mail. Use the following:
23364 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23365 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23366 is treated as one spam mail.
23369 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23370 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23371 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23374 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23375 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23376 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23377 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23378 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23379 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23381 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23382 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23383 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23384 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23385 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23388 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23389 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23390 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23391 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23394 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23395 reset the dictionary.
23397 @defun spam-stat-reset
23398 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23401 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23402 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23403 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23404 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23405 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23406 only non-spam mails.
23408 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23409 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23410 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23413 @defun spam-stat-save
23414 Save the dictionary.
23417 @defvar spam-stat-file
23418 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23419 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23422 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23423 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23425 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23426 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23429 (require 'spam-stat)
23433 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23436 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23437 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23438 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23439 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23441 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23442 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23443 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23444 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23447 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23448 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23452 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23453 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23456 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23457 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23458 expression are considered potential spam.
23461 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23462 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23463 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23467 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23468 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23469 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23470 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23471 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23474 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23475 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23476 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23480 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23481 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23482 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23483 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23484 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23488 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23489 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23490 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23491 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23496 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23497 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23499 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23501 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23502 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23503 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23506 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23507 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23508 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23511 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23512 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23513 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23514 already been processed as non-spam.
23517 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23518 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23519 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23520 been processed as spam.
23523 @defun spam-stat-save
23524 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23525 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23528 @defun spam-stat-load
23529 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23530 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23533 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23534 Return the spam score for a word.
23537 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23538 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23541 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23542 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23543 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23546 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23547 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23550 (require 'spam-stat)
23554 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23557 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23558 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23559 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23560 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23561 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23562 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23563 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23564 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23565 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23566 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23567 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23568 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23569 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23570 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23573 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23576 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23577 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23578 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23579 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23580 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23581 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23584 @node Various Various
23585 @section Various Various
23591 @item gnus-home-directory
23592 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23593 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23594 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23596 @item gnus-directory
23597 @vindex gnus-directory
23598 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23599 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23600 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23602 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
23603 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23604 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23605 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23607 @item gnus-default-directory
23608 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23609 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23610 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23611 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23612 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23613 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23614 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23617 @vindex gnus-verbose
23618 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23619 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23620 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23621 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23622 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23624 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23625 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23626 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23627 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23629 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23630 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23631 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23632 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23633 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23634 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23635 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23636 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23637 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23638 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23640 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23641 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23642 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
23643 read when doing the operation described above.
23645 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23646 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23648 @cindex invalid characters in file names
23649 @cindex characters in file names
23650 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
23651 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
23652 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
23656 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23661 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23662 Windows (phooey) systems.
23664 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23665 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23666 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23667 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23668 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23670 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23671 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23672 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23673 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23674 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23676 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23677 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23678 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23680 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23681 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23683 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23684 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23685 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23686 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23689 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23697 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23698 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23700 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23702 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23708 Not because of victories @*
23711 but for the common sunshine,@*
23713 the largess of the spring.
23717 but for the day's work done@*
23718 as well as I was able;@*
23719 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23720 but at the common table.@*
23725 @chapter Appendices
23728 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23729 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23730 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23731 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23732 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23733 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23734 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23735 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23736 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
23743 @cindex installing under XEmacs
23745 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23746 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23747 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
23748 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
23749 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
23750 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
23757 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23758 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23760 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23761 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23762 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23763 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23764 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23766 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23767 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23768 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23769 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23770 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23771 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23773 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23774 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23775 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23776 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23779 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23780 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23781 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23782 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23783 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23784 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23785 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23786 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23787 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23791 @node Gnus Versions
23792 @subsection Gnus Versions
23794 @cindex September Gnus
23796 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23797 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23800 @cindex Gnus versions
23802 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23803 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23804 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23806 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23807 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23809 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23810 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23812 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23813 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23815 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23816 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23819 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23821 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23822 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23823 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23824 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23825 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23826 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23829 @node Other Gnus Versions
23830 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23833 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23834 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23835 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
23836 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
23838 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23839 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23840 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23841 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23848 What's the point of Gnus?
23850 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23851 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23852 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23853 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23854 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23855 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23856 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23857 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23858 keep track of millions of people who post?
23860 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23861 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23862 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23863 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23864 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23865 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23866 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23867 every one of you to explore and invent.
23869 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23870 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23873 @node Compatibility
23874 @subsection Compatibility
23876 @cindex compatibility
23877 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23878 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23879 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23884 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23888 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23891 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23894 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23895 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23896 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23897 important variables have their values copied into their global
23898 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23899 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23901 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23902 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23903 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23904 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23905 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23909 @cindex highlighting
23910 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23911 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23912 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23913 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23914 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23915 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23918 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23919 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23920 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23921 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23923 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23924 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23925 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23926 to stop doing it the old way.
23928 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23930 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23932 @cindex reporting bugs
23934 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23935 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23936 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23938 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23939 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23940 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23941 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23946 @subsection Conformity
23948 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23949 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23957 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23961 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23963 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23964 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23965 We do have some breaches to this one.
23971 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23972 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23973 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23974 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23975 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23980 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23981 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23982 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23983 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23985 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23986 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
23987 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
23989 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23990 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23992 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23995 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
23996 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
23997 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
23998 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
23999 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24002 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24003 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24004 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24005 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24007 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24008 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24010 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24011 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24012 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24013 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24014 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24015 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24016 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24017 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24021 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24022 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24027 @subsection Emacsen
24033 Gnus should work on:
24041 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
24045 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24046 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24047 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
24048 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
24049 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
24051 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24052 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24053 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24057 @node Gnus Development
24058 @subsection Gnus Development
24060 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24061 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24062 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24063 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24064 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24065 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24066 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24067 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24069 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24070 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24071 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24072 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24073 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24076 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24077 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24078 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24079 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24080 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24082 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24083 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24084 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24085 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24086 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24087 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24088 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24089 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24090 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24091 can't be assumed to do so.
24096 @subsection Contributors
24097 @cindex contributors
24099 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24100 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24101 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24102 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24103 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24104 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24105 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24106 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24107 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24108 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24110 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24116 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24119 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24120 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24121 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24122 functionality and stuff.
24125 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24126 well as numerous other things).
24129 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24132 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24135 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24138 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24141 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24142 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24145 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24148 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
24149 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24152 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24155 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24158 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24161 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24164 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24165 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24168 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24171 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24174 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24177 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24181 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24184 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24187 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24190 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24191 well as autoconf support.
24195 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24196 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24198 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24213 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24215 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24219 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24229 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24244 Massimo Campostrini,
24249 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24250 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24254 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24257 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24263 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24268 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24272 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24280 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24282 Michelangelo Grigni,
24286 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24288 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24290 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24297 François Felix Ingrand,
24298 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24299 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24301 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24311 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24312 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24314 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24315 Thor Kristoffersen,
24318 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24336 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24337 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24344 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24349 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24353 John McClary Prevost,
24359 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24364 Christian von Roques,
24367 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24374 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24376 Randal L. Schwartz,
24390 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24395 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24415 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24416 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24417 (550kB and counting).
24419 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24422 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24423 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24427 @subsection New Features
24428 @cindex new features
24431 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24432 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24433 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24434 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24435 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24436 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24439 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24440 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24441 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24444 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24446 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24451 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24452 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24455 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24456 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24459 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24462 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24463 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24464 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24467 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24468 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24469 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24470 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24473 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24474 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24477 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24478 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24479 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24482 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24483 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24486 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24487 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24488 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24491 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24492 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24493 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24496 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24497 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24500 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24501 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24504 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24505 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24508 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24509 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24512 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24513 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24516 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24517 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24520 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24523 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24524 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24527 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24528 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24531 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24532 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24535 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24538 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24539 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24542 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24546 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24550 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24551 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24554 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24560 @node September Gnus
24561 @subsubsection September Gnus
24565 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24569 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24574 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24575 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24579 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24580 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24584 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24588 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24589 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24592 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24596 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24599 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24602 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24605 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24609 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24610 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24613 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24617 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24621 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24625 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24629 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24632 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24633 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24636 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24640 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24641 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
24644 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
24647 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
24648 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
24649 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24652 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
24656 The Gnus cache is much faster.
24659 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
24663 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24664 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24667 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24668 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24671 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24672 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24675 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24676 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24677 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24680 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24681 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24684 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24687 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24690 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24693 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24696 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24697 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24700 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24704 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24707 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24712 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24715 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24719 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24722 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24726 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24729 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24732 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24733 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24736 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24737 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24741 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24742 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24745 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24749 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24750 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24753 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24756 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24760 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24764 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24765 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24768 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24772 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24773 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24776 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24777 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24780 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24784 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24787 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24790 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24796 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24798 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24802 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24809 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24812 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24813 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24816 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24817 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24821 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24822 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24825 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24828 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24829 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24832 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24836 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24837 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24841 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24842 Server Internals}).
24845 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24849 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24852 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24853 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24856 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24857 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24858 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24861 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24862 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24865 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24866 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24869 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24873 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24874 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24877 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24878 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24881 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24885 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24888 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24892 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24893 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24896 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24897 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24900 A new command for reading collections of documents
24901 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24902 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24905 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24909 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
24910 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24913 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24914 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24915 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24918 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24919 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24923 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24927 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24931 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24936 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24940 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24944 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24945 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24948 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24954 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24956 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24961 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24962 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
24963 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
24966 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24967 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24968 group, which is created automatically.
24971 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24975 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24978 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24979 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24982 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24986 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24989 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24990 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24993 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24996 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25000 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25001 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25004 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25005 control over simplification.
25008 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25011 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25015 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25018 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25021 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25022 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25023 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25026 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25027 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25030 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25034 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25035 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25038 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25039 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25042 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25046 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25049 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25052 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25053 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25056 A new function for citing in Message has been
25057 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25060 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25063 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25067 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25068 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25071 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25072 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25075 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25078 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25082 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25083 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25085 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25090 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25091 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25093 If you used procmail like in
25096 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25097 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25098 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25099 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25102 this now has changed to
25106 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25110 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25113 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25114 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25117 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25118 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25121 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25122 called to position point.
25125 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25126 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25129 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25130 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25133 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25134 subtly different manner.
25137 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25138 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25139 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25142 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25147 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25150 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25155 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25156 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25159 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25161 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25162 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25163 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25164 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25165 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25166 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25167 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25168 isn't save in general.
25173 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25174 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25175 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25176 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25181 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} installs key bindings in dired buffers to send
25182 a file as an attachment (@kbd{C-c C-a}), open a file using the appropriate
25183 mailcap entry (@kbd{C-c C-l}), and print a file using the mailcap entry
25184 (@kbd{C-c P}). It is enabled with
25186 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25190 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25193 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25198 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25199 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25201 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25202 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25206 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25207 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25210 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25212 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25213 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25218 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25219 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25220 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25223 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25224 decompressed when activated.
25227 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25228 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25231 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25234 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25235 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25238 Warn about email replies to news
25240 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25241 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25245 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25246 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25250 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25251 opposed to old but unread messages).
25254 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25255 Gcc articles as read.
25258 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25261 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25262 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25265 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25266 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25269 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25270 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25273 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25274 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25277 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25279 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25280 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25281 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25282 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25285 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25287 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25288 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25289 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25290 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25291 the second parameter.
25293 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25294 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25295 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25296 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25297 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25298 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25299 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25300 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25301 cycle used under Unix systems.
25303 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25307 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25309 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25310 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25311 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25312 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25313 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25317 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25319 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25320 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25321 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25322 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25326 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25328 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25329 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25330 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25331 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25333 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25334 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25335 message cited below.
25338 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25341 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25343 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25344 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25345 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25346 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25347 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25350 (setq gnus-parameters
25352 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25353 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25354 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25355 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25359 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25361 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25365 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25367 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25368 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25369 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25370 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25371 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25372 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25373 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25374 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25375 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25378 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25380 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25381 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25382 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25383 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25384 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25385 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25388 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25389 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25393 Improved anti-spam features.
25395 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25396 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25397 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25398 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25399 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25402 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25405 Face headers handling.
25408 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25409 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25412 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25415 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25417 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25418 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25419 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25420 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25421 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25422 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25423 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25424 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25425 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25428 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25430 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25431 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25432 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25433 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25434 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25435 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25436 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25437 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25438 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25439 was inserted directly.
25442 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25444 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25445 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25451 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25452 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25453 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25454 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25455 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25456 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25457 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25458 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25459 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25460 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25461 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25462 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25463 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25464 is not needed any more.
25467 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25469 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25470 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25471 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25472 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25473 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25477 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25479 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25480 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25483 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25485 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25486 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25487 lisp directory into load-path.
25489 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25490 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25493 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25495 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25498 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25500 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25501 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25502 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25503 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25506 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25508 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25510 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25511 'bbdb-complete-name)
25515 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25517 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25518 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25519 local files as external parts.
25521 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25522 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25523 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25524 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25525 that support editing.
25528 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25530 The default value is determined from the
25531 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25532 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25533 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25536 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25538 Add a new format of match like
25540 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25541 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25543 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25545 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25546 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25550 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25552 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25553 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25554 need add those two headers too.
25557 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25559 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25560 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25561 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25564 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25565 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25566 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25570 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25572 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25575 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25577 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25580 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25582 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25583 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25584 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25587 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25589 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25593 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25595 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25596 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
25597 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25598 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25599 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25600 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25601 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25602 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25605 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25607 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25608 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25609 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25610 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25611 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25614 Extended format specs.
25616 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25617 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25618 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25619 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25620 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25621 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25624 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25626 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25627 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25628 out other articles.
25630 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25632 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25633 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25634 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25635 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
25638 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
25640 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
25641 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
25642 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
25645 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
25647 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
25648 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
25649 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
25650 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
25651 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
25652 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
25653 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
25654 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
25655 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
25656 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
25657 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
25660 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
25661 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
25664 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
25665 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
25666 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
25667 message, Message Manual}).
25670 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
25671 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
25673 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
25674 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
25675 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
25677 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
25681 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
25682 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
25684 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
25685 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
25686 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
25687 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
25690 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
25693 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
25696 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
25697 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
25700 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
25702 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
25703 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
25704 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
25705 invalidate the digital signature.
25712 @section The Manual
25716 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
25717 either @code{texi2dvi}
25719 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
25720 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
25722 to get what you hold in your hands now.
25724 The following conventions have been used:
25729 This is a @samp{string}
25732 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
25735 This is a @file{file}
25738 This is a @code{symbol}
25742 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
25746 (setq flargnoze "yes")
25749 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
25752 (setq flumphel 'yes)
25755 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
25756 ever get them confused.
25760 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
25761 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
25762 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
25763 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
25764 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
25765 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
25766 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
25772 @node On Writing Manuals
25773 @section On Writing Manuals
25775 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
25776 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
25777 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
25778 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
25779 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
25780 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
25783 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
25784 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
25785 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
25788 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
25789 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
25794 @section Terminology
25796 @cindex terminology
25801 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
25802 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
25803 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
25804 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
25805 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
25809 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
25810 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
25811 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
25812 not posting, and replying is not following up.
25816 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
25820 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
25825 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
25826 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
25827 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
25828 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
25829 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
25830 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
25831 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
25832 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
25833 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
25836 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
25837 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
25838 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
25839 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
25840 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
25841 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
25843 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
25844 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
25845 access the articles.
25847 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
25848 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
25849 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
25854 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
25855 default, way of getting news.
25859 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
25860 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
25865 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
25866 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
25870 A message that has been posted as news.
25873 @cindex mail message
25874 A message that has been mailed.
25878 A mail message or news article
25882 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
25887 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
25892 A line from the head of an article.
25896 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
25897 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
25899 @item @acronym{NOV}
25900 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
25901 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
25902 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
25903 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
25904 normal @sc{head} format.
25908 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
25909 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
25910 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
25911 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
25912 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
25913 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
25915 @item killed groups
25916 @cindex killed groups
25917 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
25918 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
25920 @item zombie groups
25921 @cindex zombie groups
25922 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
25925 @cindex active file
25926 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
25927 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
25928 is rather large, as you might surmise.
25931 @cindex bogus groups
25932 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
25933 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
25934 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
25937 @cindex activating groups
25938 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
25939 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
25940 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
25944 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
25946 @item select method
25947 @cindex select method
25948 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
25951 @item virtual server
25952 @cindex virtual server
25953 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
25954 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
25955 whole is a virtual server.
25959 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
25960 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
25963 @item ephemeral groups
25964 @cindex ephemeral groups
25965 @cindex temporary groups
25966 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
25967 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
25968 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
25971 @cindex solid groups
25972 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
25973 group buffer are solid groups.
25975 @item sparse articles
25976 @cindex sparse articles
25977 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
25978 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
25982 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
25983 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
25987 @cindex thread root
25988 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
25989 articles in the thread.
25993 An article that has responses.
25997 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26001 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26002 specified by RFC 1153.
26005 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26006 @cindex mail sorting
26007 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26008 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26009 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26015 @node Customization
26016 @section Customization
26017 @cindex general customization
26019 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26020 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26021 for some quite common situations.
26024 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26025 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26026 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26027 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26031 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26032 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26034 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26035 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26036 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26040 @item gnus-read-active-file
26041 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26042 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26043 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26044 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26045 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26047 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26048 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26049 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26050 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26054 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26055 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26057 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26058 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26059 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26063 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26064 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26065 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26066 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26067 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26069 @item gnus-visible-headers
26070 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26071 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26072 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26073 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26075 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26077 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26078 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26079 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26082 @item gnus-use-full-window
26083 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26084 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26085 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26086 want to read them anyway.
26088 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26089 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26093 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26094 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26095 lines, which might save some time.
26099 @node Little Disk Space
26100 @subsection Little Disk Space
26103 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26104 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26108 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26109 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26110 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26111 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26114 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26115 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26116 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26117 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26120 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26121 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26122 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26123 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26124 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26130 @subsection Slow Machine
26131 @cindex slow machine
26133 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26134 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26136 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26137 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26139 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26140 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26141 summary buffer faster.
26145 @node Troubleshooting
26146 @section Troubleshooting
26147 @cindex troubleshooting
26149 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26157 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26160 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26161 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26165 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26166 like @samp{T-gnus 6.16.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
26167 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old
26168 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26171 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26172 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26175 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26176 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26177 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26178 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26179 something like that.
26182 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26185 @cindex reporting bugs
26187 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26189 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26190 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26191 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26192 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26194 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26195 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26196 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26197 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26200 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26201 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26202 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26203 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26204 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26205 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26207 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26208 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26209 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26213 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26214 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26217 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26218 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26219 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26220 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26221 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26222 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26223 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26224 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26225 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26226 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26227 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26228 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26229 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26230 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26235 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26236 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26237 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26238 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26239 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26241 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26242 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26243 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26244 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26245 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26246 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26247 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26248 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26249 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26250 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26251 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26252 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26253 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26256 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26257 @cindex ding mailing list
26258 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26259 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26260 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26261 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26265 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26266 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26268 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26269 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26270 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26271 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26274 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26275 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26276 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26277 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26278 and general methods of operation.
26281 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26282 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26283 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26284 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26285 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26286 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26287 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26288 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26289 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26293 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26294 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26295 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26296 @cindex utility functions
26298 @cindex internal variables
26300 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26301 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26302 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26306 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26307 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26308 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26310 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26311 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26312 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26314 @item gnus-group-real-name
26315 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26316 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26319 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26320 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26321 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26322 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26324 @item gnus-get-info
26325 @findex gnus-get-info
26326 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26328 @item gnus-group-unread
26329 @findex gnus-group-unread
26330 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26334 @findex gnus-active
26335 The active entry for @var{group}.
26337 @item gnus-set-active
26338 @findex gnus-set-active
26339 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26341 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26342 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26343 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26346 @item gnus-continuum-version
26347 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26348 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26349 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26352 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26353 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26354 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26356 @item gnus-news-group-p
26357 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26358 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26360 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26361 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26362 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26364 @item gnus-server-to-method
26365 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26366 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26368 @item gnus-server-equal
26369 @findex gnus-server-equal
26370 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26372 @item gnus-group-native-p
26373 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26374 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26376 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26377 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26378 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26380 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26381 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26382 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26384 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26385 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26386 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26387 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26389 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26390 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26391 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26393 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26394 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26395 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26397 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26398 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26399 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26400 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26403 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26407 @item gnus-read-method
26408 @findex gnus-read-method
26409 Prompts the user for a select method.
26414 @node Back End Interface
26415 @subsection Back End Interface
26417 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26418 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26419 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26420 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26421 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26422 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26424 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26425 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26426 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26427 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26428 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26429 been opened, the function should fail.
26431 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26432 name. Take this example:
26436 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26437 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26440 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26441 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26443 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26444 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26445 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26447 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26448 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26449 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26451 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26452 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26453 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26454 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26455 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26456 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26459 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26460 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26461 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26462 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26465 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26466 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26467 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26468 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26469 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26470 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26471 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26472 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26473 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26474 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26476 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26477 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26478 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26479 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26480 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26481 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26482 of numbers as long as possible.
26484 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26485 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26486 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26488 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26491 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26494 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26495 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26496 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26497 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26498 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26499 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26503 @node Required Back End Functions
26504 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26508 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26510 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26511 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26512 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26513 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26515 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26516 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26517 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26518 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26520 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26521 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26522 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26523 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26524 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26525 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26526 number, do maximum fetches.
26528 Here's an example HEAD:
26531 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26532 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26533 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26534 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26535 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26536 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26537 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26539 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26540 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26541 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26545 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26546 these in the data buffer.
26548 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26552 head = error / valid-head
26553 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26554 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26555 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26556 header = <text> eol
26560 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26562 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26563 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26567 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26568 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26569 field = <text except TAB>
26572 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26576 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26578 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26579 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26581 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26582 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26583 server. In fact, it should do so.
26585 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26586 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26589 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26591 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26592 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26595 There should be no data returned.
26598 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26600 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26601 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26602 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26603 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26605 There should be no data returned.
26608 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26610 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26611 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26612 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26613 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26615 There should be no data returned.
26618 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26620 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26622 There should be no data returned.
26625 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26627 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26628 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
26629 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
26630 it would be nice if that were possible.
26632 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
26633 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
26634 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
26635 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
26636 into its article buffer.
26638 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
26639 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
26640 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
26641 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
26642 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
26643 on successful article retrieval.
26646 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
26648 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
26649 making @var{group} the current group.
26651 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
26654 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
26657 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
26660 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
26661 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
26662 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
26663 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
26664 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
26665 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
26666 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
26667 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
26668 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
26672 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
26673 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
26674 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
26678 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26680 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
26681 a no-op on most back ends.
26683 There should be no data returned.
26686 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
26688 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
26691 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
26694 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
26695 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
26698 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
26699 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
26700 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
26701 and the highest as 0.
26704 active-file = *active-line
26705 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
26707 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
26710 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
26711 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
26712 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
26715 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
26717 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
26718 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
26719 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
26720 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
26721 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
26722 clear if the posting could not be completed.
26724 There should be no result data from this function.
26729 @node Optional Back End Functions
26730 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
26734 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
26736 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
26737 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
26738 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
26740 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
26741 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
26742 former is in the same format as the data from
26743 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
26744 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
26747 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
26751 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
26753 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
26754 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
26755 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
26756 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
26757 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
26759 There should be no result data from this function.
26762 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
26764 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
26765 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
26766 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
26767 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
26768 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
26769 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
26770 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
26771 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
26773 There should be no result data from this function.
26776 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
26778 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
26779 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
26780 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
26781 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
26782 propagate the mark information to the server.
26784 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
26787 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
26790 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
26791 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
26792 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
26793 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
26794 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
26795 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
26796 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
26797 possible, not limit itself to these.
26799 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
26800 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
26801 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
26802 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
26804 An example action list:
26807 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
26808 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
26809 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
26812 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
26813 mark on (currently not used for anything).
26815 There should be no result data from this function.
26817 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
26819 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
26820 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
26821 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
26822 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
26823 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
26825 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
26826 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
26827 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
26830 There should be no result data from this function.
26833 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
26835 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
26836 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
26837 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
26838 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
26839 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
26840 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
26841 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
26842 local if that's practical.
26844 There should be no result data from this function.
26847 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
26849 The result data from this function should be a description of
26853 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
26855 description = <text>
26858 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
26860 The result data from this function should be the description of all
26861 groups available on the server.
26864 description-buffer = *description-line
26868 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
26870 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
26871 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
26872 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
26873 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
26874 in the active buffer format.
26876 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
26877 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
26878 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
26879 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
26880 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
26881 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
26882 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
26885 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26887 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
26889 There should be no return data.
26892 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
26894 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
26895 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
26896 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
26897 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
26898 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
26901 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
26904 There should be no result data returned.
26907 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
26909 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
26910 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
26912 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
26913 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
26914 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
26915 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
26916 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
26917 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
26919 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
26920 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
26923 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26924 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26926 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
26927 article for that group.
26929 There should be no data returned.
26932 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
26934 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
26935 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
26936 this function in short order.
26938 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26939 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26941 There should be no data returned.
26944 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
26946 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
26947 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
26949 There should be no data returned.
26952 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
26954 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
26955 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
26956 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
26958 There should be no data returned.
26961 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
26963 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
26964 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
26966 There should be no data returned.
26971 @node Error Messaging
26972 @subsubsection Error Messaging
26974 @findex nnheader-report
26975 @findex nnheader-get-report
26976 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
26977 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
26978 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
26979 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
26980 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
26981 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
26984 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
26986 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
26989 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
26990 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
26991 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
26992 takes one argument---the server symbol.
26994 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
26995 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
26996 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
26999 @node Writing New Back Ends
27000 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27002 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27003 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27004 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27005 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27006 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27009 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27010 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27011 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27013 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27014 package called @code{nnoo}.
27016 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27017 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27023 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27024 parameters. For instance:
27027 (nnoo-declare nndir
27031 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27032 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27035 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27036 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27037 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27039 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27040 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27041 a function in those back ends.
27044 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27045 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27046 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27049 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27050 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27051 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27053 @item nnoo-define-basics
27054 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27058 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27062 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27063 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27064 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27066 @item nnoo-map-functions
27067 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27068 functions from the parent back ends.
27071 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27072 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27073 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27076 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27077 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27078 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27079 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27082 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27083 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27084 haven't already been defined.
27090 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27094 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27095 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27096 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27101 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27104 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27105 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27109 (require 'nnheader)
27113 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27115 (nnoo-declare nndir
27118 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27119 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27120 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27122 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27123 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27126 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27128 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27129 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27130 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27132 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27133 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27135 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27137 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27139 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27140 (setq nndir-directory
27141 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27143 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27144 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27145 (push `(nndir-current-group
27146 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27147 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27149 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27150 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27152 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27154 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27155 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27156 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27157 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27158 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27162 nnmh-status-message
27164 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27170 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27171 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27173 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27174 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27175 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27176 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27177 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27179 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27180 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27185 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27188 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27190 The abilities can be:
27194 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27196 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27198 This back end supports both mail and news.
27200 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27203 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27204 articles and groups.
27206 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27207 true for almost all back ends.
27208 @item prompt-address
27209 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27210 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27211 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27215 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27216 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27218 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27219 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27220 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27221 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27224 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27225 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27226 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27229 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27230 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27233 This function takes four parameters.
27237 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27240 @item exit-function
27241 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27243 @item temp-directory
27244 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27247 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27248 performed for one group only.
27251 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27252 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27253 find the article number assigned to this article.
27255 The function also uses the following variables:
27256 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27257 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27258 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27259 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27263 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27264 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27268 @node Score File Syntax
27269 @subsection Score File Syntax
27271 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27272 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27273 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27275 Here's a typical score file:
27279 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27286 BNF definition of a score file:
27289 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27290 element = rule / atom
27291 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27292 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27293 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27294 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27296 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27297 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27298 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27299 date-header = "date"
27300 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27301 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27302 score = "nil" / <integer>
27303 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27304 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27305 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27306 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27307 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27308 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27309 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27310 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27311 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27312 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27313 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27314 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27315 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27316 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27317 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27318 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27319 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27320 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27321 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27322 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27323 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27324 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27325 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27326 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27327 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27328 eval = "eval" space <form>
27329 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27332 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27335 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27336 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27337 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27338 one looong line, then that's ok.
27340 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27341 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27345 @subsection Headers
27347 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27348 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27349 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27350 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27352 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27353 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27354 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27355 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27356 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27357 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27358 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27360 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27361 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27362 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27363 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27364 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27366 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27367 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27373 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27374 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27376 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27377 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27378 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27379 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27381 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27385 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27388 is transformed into
27391 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27394 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27395 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27398 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27401 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27402 is slightly tricky:
27405 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27411 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27414 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27420 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27427 and is equal to the previous range.
27429 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27430 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27431 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27435 range = simple-range / normal-range
27436 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27437 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27438 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27439 number *[ " " contents ]
27442 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27443 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27444 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27445 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27446 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27451 @subsection Group Info
27453 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27454 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27455 describes the group.
27457 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27458 second is a more complex one:
27461 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27463 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27464 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27466 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27469 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27470 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27471 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27472 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27473 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27474 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27475 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27476 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27477 this section is about.
27479 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27480 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27481 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27483 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27486 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27487 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27488 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27489 group = quote <string> quote
27490 ralevel = rank / level
27491 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27492 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27493 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27495 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27496 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27497 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27498 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27501 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27502 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27505 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27506 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27509 @item gnus-info-group
27510 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27511 @findex gnus-info-group
27512 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27513 Get/set the group name.
27515 @item gnus-info-rank
27516 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27517 @findex gnus-info-rank
27518 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27519 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27521 @item gnus-info-level
27522 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27523 @findex gnus-info-level
27524 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27525 Get/set the group level.
27527 @item gnus-info-score
27528 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27529 @findex gnus-info-score
27530 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27531 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27533 @item gnus-info-read
27534 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27535 @findex gnus-info-read
27536 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27537 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27539 @item gnus-info-marks
27540 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27541 @findex gnus-info-marks
27542 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27543 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27545 @item gnus-info-method
27546 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27547 @findex gnus-info-method
27548 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27549 Get/set the group select method.
27551 @item gnus-info-params
27552 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27553 @findex gnus-info-params
27554 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27555 Get/set the group parameters.
27558 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27559 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27561 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27562 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27563 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27564 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27567 @node Extended Interactive
27568 @subsection Extended Interactive
27569 @cindex interactive
27570 @findex gnus-interactive
27572 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27573 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27574 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27577 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27578 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27583 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27584 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27585 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27586 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27587 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27588 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27589 @code{interactive}.
27591 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27596 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27597 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27601 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27602 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27603 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27606 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27610 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27614 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27620 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27621 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27625 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27626 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27627 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
27629 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
27630 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
27631 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
27632 Gnus, that's very useful.
27634 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
27635 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
27636 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
27637 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
27638 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
27639 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
27640 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
27641 following function:
27644 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
27648 (,function ,@@args))
27652 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
27653 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
27654 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
27657 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
27658 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
27659 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
27661 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
27662 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
27663 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
27666 @node Various File Formats
27667 @subsection Various File Formats
27670 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
27671 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
27675 @node Active File Format
27676 @subsubsection Active File Format
27678 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
27679 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
27682 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
27685 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
27686 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
27687 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
27688 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
27689 no.general 1000 900 y
27692 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
27695 active = *group-line
27696 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
27697 group = <non-white-space string>
27699 high-number = <non-negative integer>
27700 low-number = <positive integer>
27701 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
27704 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
27705 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
27708 @node Newsgroups File Format
27709 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
27711 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
27712 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
27713 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
27716 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
27717 Here's the definition:
27721 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
27722 group = <non-white-space string>
27724 description = <string>
27729 @node Emacs for Heathens
27730 @section Emacs for Heathens
27732 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
27733 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
27734 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
27735 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
27736 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
27737 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
27738 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
27742 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
27743 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
27748 @subsection Keystrokes
27752 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
27755 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
27758 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
27759 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
27760 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
27761 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
27762 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
27763 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
27765 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
27766 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
27767 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
27768 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
27769 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
27770 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
27771 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
27773 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
27774 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
27775 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
27776 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
27777 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
27778 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
27779 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
27781 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
27782 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
27783 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
27784 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
27785 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
27791 @subsection Emacs Lisp
27793 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
27794 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
27795 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
27796 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
27798 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
27799 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
27800 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
27801 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
27802 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
27803 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
27804 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
27807 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
27808 write the following:
27811 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
27814 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
27815 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
27816 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
27819 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
27820 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
27821 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
27822 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
27823 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
27825 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
27826 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
27827 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
27831 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
27835 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
27838 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
27839 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
27842 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
27845 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
27846 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
27849 @include gnus-faq.texi
27869 @c Local Variables:
27871 @c coding: iso-8859-1